Recently, I came across this short interview with Stanley Kubrick. The authenticity of the interview remains in question because we only hear Kubrick's voice on a telephone. But, if you have heard Kubrick before, this sounds like his voice.
The controversy over this interview is the content. In the short video, Kubrick is asked the meaning of the dying man in the bed as he reached out towards the monolith at the end of the film. And Kubrick goes on to answer that the man was being studied by an advanced civilization.
But, since they were essentially a species who had evolved to pure energy, they lived outside the space/time fabric. And their guess of the French style hotel was weird and incorrect on purpose as Kubrick states the aliens were guessing on what the human thought was beautiful.
Kubrick goes on to say, in this phone interview, that he does not like to explain things because some of the ideas sound silly when spoken. But, that by making a dramatic scene, the ideas find their way into the imagination better.
When asked about the beings who Dave interacted with, Kubrick explains they were beings of God-like energy. And that after they studied Dave they transformed him into a "super-being". And that apparently Dave as the "baby" is sent back to Earth at the end. Kubrick goes to say that Dave was "transformed and turned into some sort of Superman. And we only have to guess what happens when he goes back, [to Earth].". He then finished the interview by saying, "It is the pattern of a great deal of mythology. And that was what we were trying to suggest".
Having seen the film over 50 times, I can tell you that the obvious story in the film is that ancient aliens have visited Earth several times. And, as the monoliths are stated to be deliberately buried, the overall feeling the film gives you is mysterious. And a lot of that has to do with the ending. But, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that the entire film was made to suggest that mankind has been influenced by an advanced species that might have been interpreted as God-like in Earth's ancient history.
So basically what the film is saying is highly controversial. Kubrick always made films that pulled onion layers off perceptions. And in 2001: A Space Odyssey, he most likely made the film difficult to understand because of the massive blowback he would have experienced for making a film claiming Jesus was a human transformed into a super-man of sorts by aliens. And, it also seems the concept of the types of aliens beings in 2001: A Space Odyssey is so far from what people would expect, is part of why this film remains a mystery.
An organized energy pattern of consciousness is not what mainstream Hollywood has been telling the public about aliens. And coming out and saying that mankind has been influenced by an organized intelligent energy field gets a bit supernatural. And perhaps that is a "bridge too far" for most people to accept. So cloaking the film in mystery was a great way to allow people to, over time, understand the film's meaning.