2001: A Space Odyssey — The Greatest Film or the Most Boring Film Ever?
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick’s film, “2001: A Space Odyssey”, has been listed for both: The Greatest Film of all Time, and The Most Boring Film of all Time. However, how can a film be listed as both, which seem to opposites? This blog aims to provide reasons for why this is the case.
Reasons why “2001: A Space Odyssey” could be considered boring:
Slowly Paced
One reason why “2001: A Space Odyssey” is said to be one of the most boring films of all time is because of its extremely slow and long nature. There are scenes in the film where next to nothing happens and it has an extremely slow build up to the “climax” of the film.
Further, many of the film’s scenes consist of the presentation of different environments and lights without much action or sound. Also, there is no dialogue until 30 minutes into the film.
Hence, a patient audience is required to truly enjoy the movie. Otherwise, this movie may seem boring for some.
More than a Little Pretentious
Some people may view this film to be highly over rated. There are a few reasons to why this might be the case:
There is no “real” story
There is not much character development; the closest we get to any antagonist is the rogue artificial intelligence “Hal”, and nothing much is revealed about the personality or character of Dave, the closest we get to a protagonist.
There are also 3 segments to film (“The Dawn of Man”, “Jupiter Mission”, “Beyond the Infinite”), although they are interesting individually, they don’t have a distinct link that connects them. Some may say this make “2001: A Space Odyssey” feel disjointed.
Furthermore, some people have said that they cannot grasp the significance of the final scene, or if there is any in the first place.
In conclusion, it is understandable why “2001: A Space Odyssey” may have been nominated as most boring by some people.
“The movie is so completely absorbed in its own problems, its use of colour and space, its fanatical devotion to science-fiction detail, that it is somewhere between hypnotic and immensely boring.” — Renata Adler’s review.
But why is this film voted as the greatest by others?
Reasons why “2001: A Space Odyssey” could be considered to be great:
“2001: A Space Odyssey” was the inspiration to many directors today
Many successful directors have come out to tell their story on how “2001: A Space Odyssey” was the film that sparked their desire to become a director.
These iconic directors describe their experience, as children, watching “2001: A Space Odyssey” for the first time in the theatre, discuss how its style and form influenced their own movies, and how it was very unique and “out of the box” for its time.
Popular modern director, Steven Spielberg, described a conversation he had with Stanley Kubrick.
“He would tell me, the last couple years of his life when we were talking about the form, he kept saying, “I want to change the form. I want to make a movie that changes the form.” And I said, “Well, didn’t you with ‘2001?’” — Steven Spielberg
And, Steven Spielberg was right, “2001: A Space Odyssey” did change the form of science fiction for the better.
As film maker, George Lucas, said — “It’s extremely subtle. It’s extremely visual. And the story is razor thin. It was the first time people really took science fiction seriously.”
Realistic
As mentioned before, “2001: A Space Odyssey”, was very unique for its time and pushed the boundaries of cinema. Unlike any other science fiction films before it, “2001: A Space Odyssey” stayed in line with the laws of physics.
Hence, no sound was heard in scenes where the astronauts were in space. For example, audiences would’ve expected an explosion with a bang due to the explosive bolts; however, there was only a visual of the explosion, no sound accompaniment.
This shows how precise, and how much effort Kubrick put in, in the making of the film.
Music and Sound is used amazingly
From the opening scene with the eerie sounds, to the choir played when the monolith is visible, and the classical music played in the scenes of space, Kubrick uses music and sound appropriately.
The sounds and music used in “2001: A Space Odyssey” is considered to be “space music” in modern society due to Kubrick’s highly influential film.
“2001: A Space Odyssey” is a great example of: showing, not telling
Stanley Kubrick was a great director in the way he allowed the audience to view, infer, and make their own assumptions about what the movie meant.
A clear example of this is the strange monolith that mysteriously appeared in the “Dawn of Man” sequence. The audience is left to wonder what this strange object is. On further analysis, some members of the audience may believe the monolith to be some sort of object that transfers knowledge to any being that makes contact with it. This is because, as can be seen from the movie, after the human-like primates touch the monolith, they begin to utilise bones as a tool. One step further to evolution.
Additionally, another extremely clear example of this are the last scenes of the film. Too many, the last 30 minutes of the film is strange and confusing; however, these scenes have generated many fan theories and ideas.
Further, an example where the audience could infer was when Hal was lip reading the two astronauts.
Hal
If there’s one thing everyone remembers from “2001: A Space Odyssey”, its the artificial intelligence, Hal 9000. This is with good reason. Although Hal seems to be a robot incapable of feeling emotions, in the end, the audience gets to realise Hal may have more personality than the humans he is with.
This feeling of Hal’s humanity is further enhanced by Hal’s reactions to Dave beginning to disconnect him. Hal continuously repeats the phrases: “Stop Dave” and “I’m Afraid”. Further, when Hal is finally disconnected Hal begins to sing.
The character Hal surely influenced the creation of other artificial intelligence in following movies and shows.
Hal perfectly demonstrates Kubrick’s ability to create a character and get the audience attached with it.
Overall, “2001: A Space Odyssey” is indeed a great film that influenced modern pop culture; however, it wasn’t without its flaws.
Bibliography
- Article title:How To Enjoy “2001: A Space Odyssey”Website title:Minnesota Pocket JournalURL:https://minnesotapocketjournal.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/how-to-enjoy-2001-a-space-odyssey/
- Article title:Why 2001: A Space Odyssey is the most important sci-fi film ever made | Metro NewsWebsite title:Metro.co.ukURL:https://metro.co.uk/2018/05/10/2001-space-odyssey-fifty-kubrick-clarkes-masterpiece-important-influential-sci-fi-film-ever-made-7347430/
- Notes made by Angus Rho while watching the movie.
By Angus Rho 9K