2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1968
	Director: Stanley Kubrick (Shining, Clockwork Orange)
	Actors: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
	Country: USA, GB
	Genre: SF
	Conditions of visioning: 12.04.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: After a mysterious alien artifact is discovered on the moon, a mission is sent to Jupiter to investigate where it is sending signals to.
Review: Like Blade Runner, this is a movie I watch every ten years to see if my original poor opinion of it has changed. In fact I discovered them on TV when I was young and couldn't appreciate them at the time. Watching them again later at a time of my choosing didn't improve things much. Now (finally) I may be appreciative of movies enough to enjoy this masterpiece. And yes I did. I think this was helped not only a little by the best conditions in which I watched it: recent Blu-ray release, Full-HD LCD projector, 5.1 surround Home cinema, I even removed the protective cover from my front speakers to enjoy the soundtrack better. Good sound is important with this movie to appreciate the difference between a silence and a whisper, and good image makes you realize how good and immersive are the special effects even fifty years later. The movie can be divided into four parts. The Australopithecus suits in the first scenes look cheap, but the actors in them give a solid performance and Kubrick cleverly shoots them is a way not to show them too much (often in shadows). The symbol of violence just discovered and the match-cut spanning four million years (between bone-weapon and satellite-weapon) are just perfect. The following part shows an apparently routine commute trip to the moon, very realistic, visually superb and beautifully accompanied by Strauss' Waltz The Blue Danube. The spaceship are better done than in Star Wars although ten years earlier, and by watching the Blu-ray documentary I was amazed by the techniques used to simulate zero gravity (the floating pen stuck to a rotating glass plate, simple and super-efficient). Dennis Murren, special effects supervisor on movies like Terminator 2 and winner of 9 Oscars, put it well by saying that 2001 "celebrated the beauty of space travel, the beauty of design and the beauty of motion". The third part deals with the trip to Jupiter and the famous conflict with the Artificial Intelligence HAL. The space experience is again very realistic: a similar ship concept was re-used by James Cameron in Avatar and we see the spacemen using a device that looks very much like a modern tablet! (the design was even used as "prior Art" during a trial between Apple and Samsung). The actors downplay their role a lot which makes their reaction very believable to me, and enhances the feeling of humanity coming from HAL. Finally I am still disturbed by the fourth act like I was 25 years ago: I still find the 10-minutes visual trip too long, but this time I could appreciate it on a large screen, immersed in the soundtrack, and better understanding the meaning of it, partly thanks to Interstellar. One could criticize that the director didn't provide any conclusion to his movie, and indeed he left it open for the audience to imagine what the whole thing means. This is a movie for which the adjective "thought-provoking" is well appropriate. One has to remember that at the time of the release of 2001, never had Science Fiction looked so realistic. It was until then a genre more reserved for kids or teenagers, and filled with monsters and flying saucers. I understand that the reviews were mixed when the movie went out, that people were going to watch it slightly drunk or stone, and that as years passed it gained cult status to the point of often being cited as the best movie of all times (maybe a bit exaggerated). After directing Dr Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick was "determined to create a work of art which would arouse the emotions of wonder, awe, ... even, if appropriate, terror". I think he succeeded: 2001: A Space Odyssey is a movie more to experience rather than to watch. In the end I don't find it to be the best movie of all times, or one of my favorites, but it surely is an incredible experience attempted by a genius of cinema. What next? I will probably watch soon other Kubrick movies starting with A Clockwork Orange which Blu-ray I already own and then Barry Lindon. I may also watch the sequel 2010: The Year we make Contact (directed by Peter Hyams) and eventually read the four novels 2001, 2010, 2061 and 3001.
Rating: 9 /10