2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, U.S.A., 1968, 160 minutes)

As we noted the other night, the narrative structure of Kubrick's 2001 seems quite different from the classical paradigm outlined in our book and illustrated by plots such as that of Buster Keaton's The General. In a 1969 interview, Kubrick complained that many films at the time seemed to have trouble escaping this three act structure, which he rightly attributed to the stage, one of film's precursors. Instead, he proposed, "[a] film is—or should be—more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings." Awe, we're told, is among the feelings Kubrick intended to evoke in 2001. Perhaps mystery. He also described 2001 as “A mythological documentary.” The five images below illustrate the five themes of the film as proposed by Alexander Walker, who refers to the sections as "invitations to meditate on the nature of man’s intelligence—namely evolution (the dawn of man), exploration (men in space), revolution (the computer’s mutiny against its masters), transfiguration (man in a cosmic ride into a new time-space dimension) and mutation (the Star Child)." Walker's "themes" are useful for identifying a structure, but they don't necessarily explain the themes' significance. For this week's post, consider this proposed structure and make an effort at articulating what their significance might be, perhaps in light of Kubrick's reference to "mythology" and Taine's suggestion (noted on page 399 of our book) that a society's anxieties are expressed in its art. You're welcome to challenge and revise Walker's structure. Alternatively, you might consider the ways in which 2001 represents the science fiction genre in a revisionist phase. That is, how does it challenge or question what may have been previously established conventions of the genre? For examples of science fiction in its Classical phase (in which conventions are established) you might look at clips from films like Things to Come (1936), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), War of the Worlds (1953), or Forbidden Planet (1956). How does 2001 differ significantly from these films in its representations of space travel, alien intelligence, the future, etc.? Looking forward to your comments!