Thursday 15 November 2012

2001: A Space Odyssey
(1968)

RATING:100%
FORMAT:Cinema



Brilliant combination of evolutionary theory with a godhead determining human destiny. Too long for its own good, the cheeky, deadpan humor carries the day with copulating space shuttles and spermatozoid interplanetary spacecraft. This leaves one wondering if the whole thing is really some kind of cosmic joke played on us by a film director god - especially in view of the decidedly phantasmagorical ending.

Director Stanley Kubrick’s view is that human nature must make one as pessimistic as he; hence, the only “character” with any human feelings (albeit programmed) we can relate to is a supercomputer called HAL 9000. The SFX here are about as far as it is possible to go with optical and mechanical effects - before the advent of drearily-predictable CGI.


Copyright © 2012 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.
Posted by Frank TALKER™ at 11:02
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Science:



No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.



Jacob Bronowski… (1908 - 74), British scientist, author. Encounter (London, July 1971).


Sleep of Reason:



The dream of reason produces monsters. Imagination deserted by reason creates impossible, useless thoughts. United with reason, imagination is the mother of all art and the source of all its beauty.



Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes… (1746-1828), Spanish painter. Caption to Caprichos, number 43, a series of eighty etchings completed in 1798, satirical and grotesque in form.


Humans & Aliens:



I am human and let nothing human be alien to me.



Terence… (circa 190-159 BC), Roman dramatist. Chremes, in The Self-Tormentor [Heauton Timorumenos], act 1, scene 1.


Führerprinzip:



One leader, one people, signifies one master and millions of slaves… There is no organ of conciliation or mediation interposed between the leader and the people, nothing in fact but the apparatus - in other words, the party - which is the emanation of the leader and the tool of his will to oppress. In this way the first and sole principle of this degraded form of mysticism is born, the Führerprinzip, which restores idolatry and a debased deity to the world of nihilism.



Albert Camus… (1913-60), French-Algerian writer & philosopher. The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt: New York: Vintage Books, (1984; page 182.)