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RE: Fresh Musings on Kubrick’s Monument for the Ages: 2001

Posted by David Aiken (A) on May 10, 2008 at 23:50:55

In Reply to: Fresh Musings on Kubrick’s Monument for the Ages: 2001 posted by halfnote on May 10, 2008 at 21:52:06:

We've had a couple of interesting discussions here in the past about the respective merits of Tarkovsy's "Solaris" vs Kubrick's "2001". I voted for "Solaris" and still feel it is the better film, but I've recently rewatched "2001" a couple of times on Blu-ray and have come to appreciate it more. It certainly is a film that cries out for the best quality visual image you can manage, and the music in the soundtrack also begs for a high quality soundtrack. The DVD certainly pales in comparison on both scores.

While you're contemplating the meaning of various passages, consider Floyd's pep talk to the people at the moon base about how their sacrifice is appreciated, and compare it to his approach with the Russians on the space station on his way to the moon. I find nothing genuine in his behaviour in either case and I wonder whether there may not be a message there that one cannot deceive one's opponents or enemies without deceiving one's own people as well. That raises the question of what does deceit lead to?

The crew of the Jupiter mission are also the victims of deceit. They aren't told the truth behind the mission either. How much of HAL's "distrust" of Bowman and Poole, as well as of the hibernating members of the crew, stems from "his" knowledge that the mission planners did not trust the crew with the truth before their departure, and does "he" decide to kill the crew because they can't be trusted with that information? Does HAL's "doubt" stem in part from the doubt of the mission planners, a doubt demonstrated in the deceit they perpetrate on the crew?

I can't help but wonder whether Kubrick, deep in the Cold War and Vietnam War eras, was making a point about the relationship between international and domestic relations, how deceit in one could only be maintained by deceit in the other as well, and that deceit at home can't be maintained without injury to your own people. Nixon proved that publicly some 4 years later.

I still prefer "Solaris" but I do think "2001" is a better film than I gave it credit for when we last discussed these 2 films here.




David Aiken

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