In 1968, Acclaimed director Stanley Kubrick released one of the greatest works of the 20th century, “2001 A Space Odyssey”. This film is regarded as one of the greatest motion pictures ever made due to its groundbreaking special effects and complex themes. The film follows humanity through the Lens of a giant monolith that provides the link from the dawn of man to humanity exploring space. Most of the film is situated in a spaceship in an advanced future Where Dr. Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) and other astronauts are sent on a mysterious mission, to fix the ships malfunctioning computer HAL 9000 due to the computers strange behavior leading to a conflict between the astronauts and the film’s antagonist HAL 9000.

This conflict, results in  Dr. Bowman  getting sucked in by a black hole when he is released by HAL, then the camera Is cut to a zoom of the planet Jupiter and the giant monolith from the start of the film with a spine tickling chant all throughout the sequence. In the final scene we see Dr. Bowman now on his death bead In front of a giant embryo known as the star child.

2001 A Space Odyssey’s, meaning is regarded as one of the most complex questions in the history of cinema due to its director Stanley Kubrick’s purposely cryptic directing. Kubrick’s filmmaking was unique to his era due to Kubrick’s use of unconventional story techniques, while other directors used simple story structures for the viewer to fully understand the film, Kubrick wanted the viewer to think and discuss the true meaning of the film he claims this in a 1968 interview by playboy where Kubrick states “You’re free to speculate as you wish about the philosophical and allegorical meaning of the film—and such speculation is one indication that it has succeeded in gripping the audience at a deep level—but I don’t want to spell out a verbal road map for 2001 that every viewer will feel obligated to pursue or else fear he’s missed the point”.

 2001, has many popular interpretations of its meaning by the fans of the film, one of the interpretations of the film claims that “2001 A space Odyssey” is an allegory to German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophical tract “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” stating that humanity is the bridge between primitive apes and the Ubermensch [the ideal superior man of the future who could rise above conventional Christian morality to create and impose his own values} and the idea that all existence is recurring, doomed to repeat itself forever

Another popular interpretation of the film declares that it is about how humanity is defined by violence, suggesting that the first tool created by humanity was a weapon to fend off against other species and most likely the final tool created by humanity will be a weapon to destroy mankind, we can notice this in the beginning of the film when a primitive ape uses a bone, they found in the ground to violently kill another member of their specie and at the end of the movie by HAL 9000 being an evil invention destined to destroy mankind. 

“2001 A Space Odyssey”, was the film that inspired a generation of filmmakers many directors have been inspired by this beautiful film like acclaimed director Christopher Nolan Stating in an interview by IGN “Would I love to do things like that in my own work? Yes. But I don’t think I have the confidence to do that. Which is why there is only one Stanley Kubrick. I do believe he is inimitable. But you can be inspired. You can be inspired to aspire to be that confident.” Martin Scorsese, another Oscar winning director stated in an interview by indiewire “it takes extraordinary audacity and power and guts to say, ‘Let’s just screech everything to a halt and take everybody back to prehistoric times,’” Scorsese said of the film’s opening. “Kubrick was saying, ‘I want you to see something. I’m going to take you through something you never thought you’d experience.’” 2001, is one of the most highly acclaimed movies ever to come out, having a 92 percent on rotten tomatoes and a 4.3/5 on letterboxd [both are platforms where viewers  leave their review on various films.]

From the words of Jose Jimenez who saw 2001 during its opening week “2001 A Space Odyssey” is a film not for everyone, only some will understand a fraction of its meaning and almost no one will understand 2001 to its full extent and that is the beautiful part of it.” 2001 will forever be one of cinemas biggest mysteries and fans of the film will never know what it all means and that is why 2001 is so great because we the audience put our own meaning to film, meaning that 2001 can mean virtually anything to anyone which is unique only to this film. 2001 holds a special place in the heart of many inspiring filmmakers and it has contributed to advancing the art of film making. If you have not seen this film, I highly recommend it is an experience well worth having. 

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A monolith is a mysterious black slab, discovered throughout the Solar System