Classics at Capitol - 2001: A Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey 1968. Dir: Stanley Kubrick,149 mins. (with 10 min. intermission),Colour,4K DCP (PG) Starring Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, Douglas Rain One of the great masterpieces of cinema, Stanley Kubrick’s science fiction epic 2001: A Space Odyssey, is a work of extraordinary cinematic vision. It begins in prehistoric times, then leaps forward into the future of 2001,telling of humanity’s capacity for self-destruction. 2001 remains prescient, especially in our era of Artificial Intelligence. Kubrick wanted to take Science Fiction, a genre often seen as ridiculous, and create an interplanetary spectacle as realistic and believable as possible. Sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke developed the story, about a mysterious monolith that appears on the moon, which has previously visited earth during a critical stage of human evolution. We then follow an expedition to Jupiter through deep space on a covert mission, derailed by the increasingly odd behaviour of HAL, the distinctively voiced AI that controls their spaceship. In addition to the extraordinary special effects photography, production design and the choreography of the ‘Dawn of Man’ sequence (memorably parodied in Barbie!),Kubrick made iconic use of classical music on the soundtrack, including Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra as a recurring theme, and Johann Strauss’s The Blue Danube to accompany the elegant movement of space flight. On release in 1968 (eight months before the actual moon-landings),2001 overwhelmed and fascinated audiences. They were often perplexed by the final section of the film, which Kubrick designed to be a purely visual and sonic journey open to interpretation. It is still utterly mind-blowing 58 years later.