Directed by :
Stanley Kubrick
Produced by :
Stanley Kubrick
Starring : Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood,
William Sylvester.
Released : 1968 (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
Country : United States, United Kingdom
2001: A Space Odyssey
deals with themes of human
evolution, technology, artificial intelligence and
extraterrestrial life. The film is notable for its
scientific realism, pioneering use of special effects, and
reliance upon ambiguous yet provocative imagery and sound in
place of traditional techniques of narrative cinema.
The film is widely recognized today among
critics as one of the greatest films ever made.
In 1991, the film was deemed "culturally
significant" by the United States Library of Congress and was
selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
An extra-terrestrial intelligence plants black
monoliths on Earth, on the Moon and at the edge of the solar
system in order to monitor man's evolutionary and technological
progress. As apes learn to use tools, develop into Homo Sapiens
and ultimately travel into space the monoliths signal these key
stages of development back to their makers. Mankind's production
of artificial intelligence and the "man vs machine" battle of
wits with HAL creates the sense that mankind is never in control
of its own destiny but rather, like a child, always "at the edge"
of its capabilities and struggling to learn and grow. The film
ends with the super-intelligent, super-developed God-like extra-terrestial
entity placing man into his true context - as a bewildered child
re-born into the cosmos to enter a new stage of superhuman
development.
