I have a number of cinematic, literary, and cultural blind spots. I finally corrected one of them. I had never seen 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Art. Pure and simple. This movie is art.
I almost feel like I’d seen it because so many directors, writers, and production designers have ripped this masterpiece off. Granted, it was very slow, dialogue is sparse, and the future according to 1968 looked very very “white” but still, it is masterful. I didn’t need to hear the stories to know from looking at it that people killed themselves artistically and sacrificed some sanity to make these sets, effects, and sequences. There are films and stories that take art baby steps and this film pulls out a catapult. Star Trek the TV series was running on network television when this came out, and look at the VAST contrast. You just don’t see movies like this in mainstream cinema today, movies that embrace stillness and beauty with minimalism and design. Though I do think Arrival (2016) touches on that tradition. I enjoy a movie that’s not afraid to be quiet.
I know volumes have been written about this film in terms of its philosophy and message, but sit down and revisit. It will stick with you for days. Knowing that no CGI was used either blows my mind on some of the sequences, my brain still doesn’t know how they got some of those shots and that I find a delightful puzzle.
These chairs look like red blood cells just floating along. Dope production design.