2001: A Space Odyssey. What did you take from the movie?

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   ienjoythisposted 11 years ago

   2001: A Space Odyssey. What did you take from the movie?
   
   What are your interpretations of 2001: A Space Odyssey?  Kubrick has stated that the film is meant to be ambiguous and open to different interpretations. What did you take from the movie?
   
   

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2. 68

   Nellieannaposted 11 years ago

   When it was first released in 1968, I saw "2001" A Space Odyssey" with my science-teacher husband & our pre-teen children.  It had been eagerly awaited, and we didn't know what to expect but that it was  major.  Of course, it was highly innovative by all standards then, presented as Sci-fi, which was its flavor.  The music was arresting, as was the story.  The monolith metaphor grabbed my imagination.  The new generation idea was compelling. Of course, computers and robots were still mostly foreign ideas then, - except in mammoth mainframes which were used in government and in Sci-fi, a genre which flooded the screens and books.
   
   It's metaphorical outlook was apparent.  It was more an impression than an account.  Scenes were obviously artfully crafted & manipulated to be subtle and suggestive, moody and gripping, rather than attempting to announce how the future was to be, even probably.
   But it was the dignity, pure beauty and stimulating ideas of this film which left my lasting impression.  I can't hear "Also spruce Zarathrusta" without remembering just how it felt to sit in that theater in Louisville in 1968 to experience this film.  It was no mistake that won it many awards.

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   1. 68

      ienjoythisposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Nellieanna, your testimony of the experience you had with the movie is wonderful. I wish I could have seen this movie in the theater to be able to truly appreciate its picture, music score, and the thought-provoking visuals.  Thanks for your answer.

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      Nellieannaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Without a doubt - it had an impact.  Remember it was about a year before Apollo and crew landed on the moon!

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      DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      "Thus Spake Zarathustra" has always been one of my favorite pieces of music...I thought it complimented the movie perfectly.

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      Nellieannaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Definitely.  But, ah - my trigger-happy spell checker makes some horrid corrections - "Also spruce Zarathrusta" - so embarrassing! I was changing "spake" to "sprach" and totally confused the thing,  :-)

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      DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      LOL, Nellieanna--I don't like automatic spell-checkers!  I prefer to do my own checking.  Hee hee

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      Nellieannaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      This one seems to be Apple's choice on my Mac.  At least, I wasn't consulted - it's just there.   Guess I need to research it.

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3. 85

   DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years ago

   I saw it when it first came out, and found it ambiguous, indeed.  My next reaction was that the trip through the 'star tunnel' made me nauseated.  (I have always suffered from motion sickness...)
   
   The next time I saw it was probably 25 years later; by that time, I had learned how to focus my vision forward and not get the motion sickness effects; and I arrived at my own conclusion:
   It's about new beginnings; reincarnation, if you will...coming full circle, and starting again, but retaining the knowledge from before.

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   Credence2posted 11 years ago

   I saw the film on its release in 1968 in a cinerama. I was just a kid and mesmerized by the realism and technical attention to detail in the film. It was like actually being there. Unless you read the book by Arthur C. Clarke, the deeper meaning of the film would escape many dazzled by the special effects.
   
   Certainly one of my favorite movies and having seen it, one could not help but to be in love with space travel.

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