Space Odyssey 2001

For more than two hours, the plot unfolds before the viewer, built around foreign artifacts, later called "monoliths." The first of them at the dawn of mankind arrived on Earth and taught the ancient Australopithecus to use objects as tools and weapons . It had the correct shape of a rectangular parallelepiped with an aspect ratio of 1: 4: 9 (1²: 2²: 3²), had a completely black color and was not amenable to any instruments or radiation.

When human technology at the end of the 20th century reached the possibility of visiting the Moon , the same “monolith” was discovered on it, buried under the thickness of the lunar soil in the center of the magnetic anomaly LMA-1 (Lunar magnetic anomaly). When they tried to extract it, in the rays of the sun, he suddenly sent a powerful signal to outer space.

A careful analysis of the direction of the intended signal destination in Jupiter’s orbit revealed yet another “monolith”, much larger than the lunar one. To explore this "monolith", it was decided to use the upcoming Discovery expedition.

Since by that time people had not made such long flights, it was decided to put the research team in a state of suspended animation , and entrust the flight to three crew members - two NASA pilots and the latest HAL 9000 artificial intelligence computer . However, in addition to logical constructions and imitation of human emotions, rigorous instructions about the true purpose of the expedition by the military were introduced into the algorithms of the HAL 9000, which predetermined the tragic outcome of the expedition.

HAL 9000, experiencing unexplained difficulties in hiding the true purpose of the expedition (no crew should have known about the “monolith” until the Discovery reached it), first lied to the crew about the malfunction of the antenna unit for communication with the Earth, and then , in response to a conversation of pilots about distrusting artificial intelligence, killed one of the crew members in outer space, simulating an accident, and then turned off the life support systems of scientists in suspended animation. Miraculously, surviving Dave Bowman ( Cyrus Dully ) was able to deactivate the HAL 9000 and reach Jupiter. There he was explained the true purpose of the expedition - the third "monolith", but when Bowman tried to examine it, he was carried away "for infinity " (as the last chapter of the film is called ( English Beyond the Infinite ), according to the book - for twenty thousand light years from Earth. Bowman was in a strange room where he quickly grew old. And on his deathbed, the fourth “monolith” turned Bowman into a “Star Child.” In the final picture, the viewer sees Bowman looking at the Earth from space in a new guise.

Varus-Video, 1998

Shortly after completing the shooting of the film “ Doctor Strangelove ” ( 1964 ), Kubrick became interested in the issue of life outside the Earth ^[10] and decided to make “a good notorious science fiction film” ^[11] , starting the search for a suitable co-author from the science fiction community. Roger Karas of Columbia Pictures advised Clark as a partner. And although Kubrick was convinced that Clark was “a hermit, an eccentric living on a tree,” he still sent a telegram to the writer, to which Clark answered with his consent and “terrible interest” (as he himself put it), and also that he did not understand why “Kubrick thinks I'm a hermit?” ^[12] . The first meeting of Kubrick and Clark took place on April 22, 1964 in New York ^[13] . Kubrick invited Osama Tezuka to the position of production designer , being impressed by his series Astro Boy , but was refused ^[14] .

Material Search

When Stanley Kubrick first met Arthur Clark, he wanted to make a film about the relationship between man and the Universe, and Clark (as he himself put it) was determined to “create a work of art that would cause surprise, awe ... and even, if appropriate, horror” ^{[ 13]} . Clark offered Kubrick six of his stories, and in May Kubrick chose one of them, , as the basis for the future film. To collect more material and expand the plot, he devoted the remainder of 1964 to reading scientific works on anthropology, watching science fiction films, and brainstorming sessions ^[15] . Clark and Kubrick for two years transformed The Sentinel into a novel, and then into a script for the film ^[16] .

Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Astronomer Carl Sagan writes in his book that Stanley Kubrick turned to him with a question about extraterrestrial life. Kubrick wanted to attract actors to portray alien humanoids, but Sagan was convinced that alien life forms were unlikely to resemble earthly life, and such an image would add a false element to the film. Sagan suggested only to indicate the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence, but not to portray it. He attended the premiere and was glad that he had provided some assistance ^[17] . Kubrick hinted in the film the existence of an invisible alien race, suggesting in an interview in 1968 that, after millions of years of evolution, these humanoids of the alien race became immortal machines, and then creatures from “pure energy and spirit” ^[18] .

Supercomputers

Kubrick endowed the main computer of the Jupiter mission with intelligence at the human level and the ability to distinguish between human emotions. The director agreed with the opinion of computer experts that complex computers with the possibility of self-training based on accumulated experience will sooner or later develop such emotions as fear, hatred, love and envy. Ultimately, these machines will become susceptible to normal human mental disorders, like the HAL in this film ^[19] .

Clark said that the similarity of the HAL computer name with the acronym IBM ^{[20] [K 1]} is a pure coincidence. HAL stands for "Heuristically programmed Algorithmic computer" (Heuristically programmed algorithmic computer) or "Heuristic ALgorithmic computer" (Heuristic algorithmic computer).

In a global sense, heuristics is a science that studies creative activity. In cybernetics, a heuristic way to solve a problem is a trial and error method, following which the computer chooses the best solution, partially based on previous experience in solving such problems. A computer with heuristic analysis is able to deviate from predefined instructions and make decisions independently, which is an integral part of artificial intelligence.

Spaceships

All vehicles in the film were made very carefully, attention was paid even to small details of the interior for greater realism ^[21] . The modeling team, led by two experts from NASA, scientific consultant Fred Ordway and director Harry Lange, was concerned about working out the functions of each individual component of the ship’s systems, marking individual buttons, and displaying probable operational, diagnostic and other data ^[21] . Douglas Trumbull, creator of special effects, writes: “One of the most serious problems that prevented us throughout the production was the need to keep track of all new ideas, changes, re-evaluations and changes in design, as well as the plot” ^[22] . Ordway noted that the US industry had problems with the production of components necessary for the implementation of Kubrick's ideas, and the design of vehicles was often updated, taking into account changes in the scenario ^[21] . In the end, all these problems were resolved, and by the start of filming in December 1965, all final versions of the spacecraft designs were ready ^[21] .

Stanley Kubrick was very attentive to details: instructions for the use of various components of spacecraft were made for the shooting ^[23] .

Title

In his release, published February 23, 1965, Kubrick referred to the upcoming film as Journey Beyond the Stars . ^[24] Clark recalled: “It was not later than eleven months that we started - in April 1965. Stanley coined the name“ 2001: A Space Odyssey “. As far as I remember, it was completely his idea ” ^[25] . Kubrick for the title was inspired by Homer 's epic “ Odyssey ”: “It happened for us ... that for the Greeks there were vast seas, then for our generation the same mystery is Cosmos” ^[26] .

Filming

The main shootings began on December 29, 1965 at Shepperton Studios ( Shepperton , England ). The studio was chosen because it could accommodate a pit 18 × 36 × 18 meters in size for shooting the excavation scene in Tycho Crater ^{[27] [28]} . In January 1966, the production was moved to the British studio MGM, where field shooting was carried out, as well as special effects were created ^[29] .

Frank Miller, who voiced flight control, was a US Air Force soldier in real life and controlled real-world missions. He was approved for this role because his voice was the most authentic that filmmakers could find. Inexperienced and nervous, he could not help but tap his foot during the recording of the session, and then Stanley Kubrick, who repeatedly came to record audio tracks, folded a towel, put it under Miller's legs, and told him that now you can knock plenty ^[30] .

Filming with the actors was completed in September 1967, and from June 1966 to March 1968, Kubrick was mainly engaged in the development of 205 special effects for the film. The director used a special technique to create visual effects, avoiding the deterioration of image quality with chromakey and masks . The editing of the film was completed by Kubrick in March 1968, shortly before the film was released ^[31] . The premiere of the film took place at the Uptown Theater in Washington on April 2, 1968, and on April 6, the film began to go on wide release.

Cut scenes

The cut-off scenes of the Space Odyssey are usually divided into two categories: scenes that were deleted during editing, and scenes that Kubrick deleted after the premiere ^[32] .

Scenes cut during installation:

• A scene showing how the children of the colonists live on the moon (the scene showed a classroom in which a painting lesson takes place; both daughters of Kubrick starred in a children's crowd);
• Haywood Floyd buys for his daughter a baby hut through a videophone in a department store ^{[to clarify ]} ;
• A 10-minute black-and-white video filmed in an interview with real scientists (including the theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson ), where they discussed extraterrestrial life. Kubrick removed this scene after the very first test run arranged for the MGM management ^[32] ;

Scenes cut after the premiere:

• In the prologue of The Dawn of Man, there were several additional frames that more revealed changes in the behavior of monkeys after being exposed to them by the Monolith;
• Short shots showing everyday life at Discovery (in time most of them were supposed to go at the very beginning of the Jupiter Mission scene, when Bowman and Poole were shown for the first time);
• Bowman picks up a spare part for the antenna from a special niche in the octagonal corridor;
• Bowman's flight to the shuttle antenna;
• The pool is preparing to board the shuttle and fly into space (the scene visually repeated a similar scene with Bowman and was the only longest scene that was removed in this edition. Kubrick cut it out because one critic after the premiere showed that Frank Pool’s death after this scene looks disgusting ^[32] );
• HAL disconnects the radio from the Poole shuttle before killing him;
• Bowman, wandering in an alien room in a spacesuit, finds slippers and a dark robe, which he will later put on (because of this clipping, a mounting slap is noticeable: Bowman goes deep into the room opposite the entrance to the bathroom, and the next frame enters the bathroom itself ; when he enters, the shoe can be seen on the bench near the bed, and on the bed itself - a bathrobe, although in the previous frames they were not there) ^[32] .
• In most rental film copies of this edition, musical compositions in the introduction, intermission, and in the final credits were shortened, but in most DVD editions these fragments were restored.

In December 2010, special effects movie maker Douglas Trumble announced that Warner Brothers had found cut-out footage in Kansas for about 17 minutes, which they said was well preserved. As stated, this is the cut-out material of the post-premiere edition ^[33] . However, no information on whether these cut scenes will be inserted into the film or whether they will be shown at all has not yet been reported ^[34] .

2018 Version

By the 50th anniversary in 2018, a new restored 70mm version was released (the previous one was released in 2001), in which this time the original negative went through photochemical processing rather than digital processing ^[35] . The restoration was carried out under the direction of film director Christopher Nolan ^[35] . The premiere of this version opened the 71st Cannes Film Festival . ^[35] After this, in the summer of 2018, a limited international movie rental in cinemas with the appropriate equipment took place.

Against the background of classical music , a whole series of fascinatingly slow combined filming takes place in front of the viewer, emphasizing the beauty of the Universe and the perfection of man’s creative genius . The Space Odyssey 2001 takes the viewer through the whole history of mankind - from the Stone Age to the starry era, which is still unattainable and alluring goal. The film considers the intellect as the border between the animal and man and asks the question: what will be the next border, and what will be behind it? At the same time, the Odyssey, like other films by Kubrick, is full of elements of surrealism . Humanism and the greatness of human creations in this tape are combined with a technological impasse and a development crisis, in which people die from the machines they created.

In an interview, Kubrick stated that the "heart of the film" is the "concept of God " ^[36] . However, he preferred to imagine the higher consciousness not as anthropomorphic creatures from another planet or a gray-haired old man on a cloud, but a geometrically perfect figure. “It's important to feel certain things, not to say them in words,” says Kubrick. “You should leave food for the imagination of the viewer” ^[37] . The star child is presented in the film as a qualitatively new stage in the development of consciousness , a kind of new Messiah (it is no coincidence that the music for the Nietzschean treatise sounds in the film) ^[36] . Kubrick defined Bowman, who was reborn at the end of the film, as “an improved man, a superman , if you like,” and said that he “returns to Earth ready for the next leap in the evolutionary development of the human race” ^[36] .

For the Hollywood mainstream, the film has extremely few dialogs. The first word is pronounced only in the 26th minute of the tape. But no less than the “picture”, the musical row composed of both classical works and interspersed with the musical avant-garde has a value for the perception of the film.

The opening credits of the film and the episode of a tossing a bone by a monkey are accompanied by the first chords of the symphonic poem " So Said Zarathustra, " written by Richard Strauss in 1896 . The Waltz of Johann Strauss , “ On the Beautiful Blue Danube ”, accompanies the demonstration of space achievements in the film. To the music of the waltz, aircraft fly in front of the viewer. The waltz also sounds against the background of the final credits, and also after them - with a black screen. Music organically complements the majestic and unhurried movements of spaceships and celestial bodies. According to Jan Harlan , while working on the painting, Kubrick listened to Anton Bruckner , Jan Sibelius and Gustav Holst ^[38] .

After the release of the film, it was discovered that, without the composer's knowledge, fragments of micropolyphonic works by the Hungarian avant-garde artist Ligeti sound in it. This caused a lengthy trial. Ligeti’s music, devoid of pitch-definiteness and perceived by the ordinary audience as a musical noise mass, accompanies the very first minutes of the film (with a black screen), the appearance of a monolith, the hero’s journey through fantastic spaces in the film’s finale. Subsequently, Kubrick used Ligeti’s music in the films “ Radiance ” and “ Eyes Wide Shut. ”

Initially, to write music for the film, Kubrick turned to composer Alex North , who had already done this for Spartak. But in the end, the director decided to abandon this soundtrack in favor of the classics, which North found out only after the premiere and was upset by this.

The film "Space Odyssey 2001" has a sequel - the film " Space Odyssey 2010 ", shot in 1984. This film is an adaptation of Clark’s second book in the Space Odyssey series, directed by Peter Hymes , and the film hasn’t gained as many fans as its predecessor.

After the release of the film, critical reviews were very diverse and ranged from rave reviews to devastating articles and ridicule. Moreover, many New York critics were particularly uncompromising. Kubrick called them “dogmatically atheistic, materialistic and mundane” ^[39] . Some critics watched the original 161-minute film, shown at premieres in Washington, DC, New York, and Los Angeles ^[40] . Cair Dulley, one of the critics, noted that 250 people left the room during the premiere of the film in New York before the film ended. The famous actor Rock Hudson also left the room long before the end, calling what he saw “delirium” ^[39] . Dulley noted, however, that no one expected the film to arouse such popular interest, and a few months after the premiere, it was noticed how people had fun watching the film, smoking intoxicating substances. “Someone in San Francisco even ran across the TV screen shouting,“ This is God! ”. Then they came up with a new poster with the inscription: “2001 is a perfect journey!” ” ^[41] .

Penelope Gillatt, a critic of The New Yorker , noted that the film is hypnotically attractive, large-scale, but just as heavy and unbearable to watch ^[42] . Charles Ciamplin of the Los Angeles Times suggested that “this is the same picture that (as a result, not fortunate for many) science fiction fans of all ages from all over the world prayed and that the film industry could ever give them that ^{[to clarify ]} . The production of a science fiction film is amazing, the realization of a spatial future ... this is a milestone, a guideline for a new comic era in the art of cinema ” ^[43] . Louise Sweeney of Christian Science Monitor noted that 2001 is “a brilliant intergalactic satire of modern technology. It is also a dazzling 160-minute tour of the world of Kubrick, “through the universe beyond the borders of our Earth” ” ^[44] . Philip French wrote that the film was “perhaps the first high-budget masterpiece from the“ Intolerance ”of David Griffith fifty years ago, which can be regarded as the work of one person ... A space odyssey is a very important milestone - a watermark of creating a science fiction film or, at least least futuristic cinema genre branch ^{[to clarify ]} ” ^[45] .

Other critics left negative reviews of the film, for example, Pauline Kael called it “a monumentally unimaginable film” ^[46] , and The New Republic Stanley Kaufmann called the film “so boring that it even dulls our interest in technical ingenuity, for which Kubrick allowed him to become boring ” ^[47] . Renata Adler of The New York Times wrote that this film is “somewhere between hypnotic and incredibly boring” ^[48] . Andrew Sarris from Village Voice magazine called the painting “one of the darkest films I have ever seen in my life ... 2001 is a disaster because it is too abstract to summarize” ^[49] . Sarris, after watching the film for the second time, changed his mind and stated that “2001 is a truly large-scale work of a talented artist” ^[50] . John Simon felt that it was “a regrettable failure, although not a complete one. The film is fascinating when it focuses on monkeys or cars ... and terrible when it deals with an intermediate position: people ... 2001, despite all its lively visual and mechanical spectacle, is a kind of space, and the story turned out to be another attempt to explain biblical concepts science fiction trails ^{[to clarify ] [51]} . " The outstanding historian Arthur Meyer Schlesinger considered the film "morally pretentious, intellectually obscure and unreasonably long ... out of control" ^[52] . In a 2001 review, the BBC said that the slow pace of a film often repels a modern audience, even more so than it did when it was originally released ^[53] .

Today, “2001: The Space Odyssey” is considered one of the main works of art of the 20th century, many critics and directors consider it a masterpiece ^[54] .

Comments

Sources

• Agel, Jerome. The Making of Kubrick's 2001.. — New American Library, 1970. — 367 с. — ISBN 0-451-07139-5 .
• Clarke, Arthur C. The Lost Worlds of 2001.. — London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1972. — ISBN 0-283-97903-8 .
• LoBrutto, Vincent. Stanley Kubrick. — London: Faber and Faber, 1997, 1998. — ISBN 0-571-19393-5 .

• 2001 год: космическая одиссея (англ.) на сайте allmovie  
• Кубрик 2001 — краткое содержание фильма (рус.)