Stanley Kubrick was possessed with the idea of changing the medium of film. Or at least extend it as far as he could. And if anyone in film history had the guts, the ability and the influence to do it, it would be Kubrick.
I am a big Kubrick fan. He is possibly me second favourite, behind Hitchcock. This is partly due to the fact that he just was different and dared to be different, whether it "worked" or not - and it worked almost always. Another aspect about Kubrick is his ability to almost subdue any genre to his will and be the de-facto state of the art anyone else attempting to define or defy those genres would be compared to. He did this particularly in horror, with The Shining and in sci-fi with 2001.
2001 seems to defy any categorisation. Me calling it "sci-fi" just now, would even be a mischaracterisation of what this movie is about. The only other movie that can stand comparison both in level of artistry and depth, while also touch upon similar kinds of metaphysical and philosophical themes, would be Metropolis by Fritz Lang.
In fact, I would argue that it does not belong in a category at all. Kubrick succeeded as far as could be imagined to defy categorisation and, if not quite reinvent the medium, at least push it years ahead in one big push. The sci-fi parts alone were groundbreaking for that niche, and lifted the level for others to follow from cheesy to high art.
With that said I am not all roses in my approach to 2001. It has weaknesses, which I believe tend to be the same criticism, I see from others who are not quite up there on the "perfect" score. It is the pacing. The first and the third act are very enjoyable in my opinion. They have a slow but steady pace that leaves time for the creative and artistic side without loosing it to boredom. That I cannot say for the middle act, which also has a intermission build in, with yet another black screen to get back into the empty space mood that also opened the movie.
The purpose is to put you in the "helmet" of the character's who go about their slow grinding everyday chores in their spaceship and so on. As much as the scenery with spaceships arriving, doors opening and closing etc. is fascinating, it does become too slow for me and I loose steam and struggle to hang on as tight as in the other acts, which also risk me loose some of those important little aspects here and there, since I am slightly "dozed" off.
It is not a killer of the movie these aspects, far from it. But when we are dealing with a potential masterpiece I tend to look for small faults and see if that is sufficient to grade it down. In this case it is but it is the only beef I have with an otherwise majestic, awe-inspiring, unique and hugely ambitious undertaking that only comes around once in a few decades or so.
The 70mm film medium is so delicious to look at. The colour-palettes and the warmth is unique and Kubrick takes full advantage of its possibilities. The psychedelig Jupiter sequence is pretty mind-blowing and I have never seen anyone else match the near abstract impressionism in it with such sense of being a part of it. The movie overall gets to you whether you like what you see or not. it can at times be both absorbing and annoying. The scuba breathing sound ... the thousand cries in the ambient sound a long the strange obelisk object and so on.
The philosophical aspects don't get much deeper or more important than they are here. it is basically the story of good and bad in the human race, since the dawn of man and into the future. The symbolisms are practically everywhere (it seems) and with every view I seem to find new ones. Like the planets and the obelisk around the Jupiter sequence aligning into a christian cross. You can practically go nuts in interpreting this movie and it really lends itself to so many stories and is one of the reasons of its staying power.
It is a must see movie for anyone even remotely interested in movies as an artistic medium. It is one of those experiences that stays with you forever and it has possibly never been quite equalled since. The visuals are stunning, the music is majestic and electryfying. The idea is so out there that you can only wonder how it actually was able to be created at all. It is a milestone in cinema on so many accounts. All the more sad is it for me that I have to grade it down one step because of the dragging second act.
9/10
