2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) analysis and video

Everyone can admit that 2001: A Space Odyssey is either one of the greatest sci-fi films, or one of the best movies ever. I did some digging, and uncovered this excellent video that basically sums up the complex themes of the movie. Check out this guys other videos, he also analyzes the shining.

Part one:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=orxh8n1l-0w

Part two:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rl9RcQe00Zs&mode=related&search=



Here's my original analysis . I wrote it right after watching the movie awhile ago, so its not as thought out and revealing as the video.

The Beginning:

The beginning of the movie starts with the dawn of man as apes. The proposition of evolution in this movie, though I don’t necessarily believe it, really does showcase the development of mankind through the ages. It starts with a pack of monkeymen, herbivores at this point, fighting off other herbivores for the limited resources (man vs. creature for resources). Then, the pack has to fight off another pack of monkeymen for a puddle of water they need to sustain the group (man vs. man for resources). A huge black monolith is then presented to the pack of monkeys, in which they seem to worship (discovery of higher life form). Then, the pack discovers the bones of a deceased herbivore, and use them as tools to kill other animals, and eat them (man kills creature for sustenance). Finally, the two monkey packs face off again for the puddle of water, and the leader of the rival monkey pack is killed with the newfound bones (man kills man). This shows the definite progression of mankind;
1. Man competes for resources, first with creatures, then other men.
2. Man searches for and discovers enlightenment through a higher form.
3. Man finds use of tools because of enlightenment, and uses tools to kill and eat other life forms
4. Man is forced to kill man in order to survive

The End:

Even more puzzling than the beginning of 2001: A Space Odyssey is the ending. Kubrick, after the films release, has stated that it is up to the viewer to interpret and analyze not only the reoccurring black monoliths, but the last 30 minutes of the movie. Once Bowman, the main character, reaches Jupiter, he sees a black monolith, and approaches it. He is then transported over vast, psychedelic landscapes through space and time. Then, he finally arrives in a room decorated with the styles of the future and the past (it is oddly white, sterile, and quiet, yet contains Victorian furniture). He sees himself as an elderly man eating at a table. That man then sees himself dying in a bed. The dying man looks up from his deathbed, and sees the black monolith. All of a sudden he dies, and becomes a fetus in a transparent womb. That fetus then transports itself to Earth. I have come up with an interpretation that has been combined with many others.

The ending is Kubrick’s way of coming to terms with life after death, and the next step in evolution for man. Bowman sees the black monolith, and is enlightened, much like the pack of monkeys. He is shown the vastness of space and time, since that would be the next step for human beings. The “future and past” room is much like the womb for a baby; it has all the necessities of life for bowman (I.E. food). Then, when he dies, he becomes the fetus. This shows two things: Bowman relinquishing himself to become a newer, better life form through birth (the “starchild”), and it shows the afterlife for man compared to the death of stars. Once a star implodes (dies), it becomes a smaller, different star (“starchild”). When the “starchild” transports itself to Earth, it gazes upon it curiously (probably contemplating how primitive its ancestors were when they discovered how to use tools and how to kill). This film is ultimately about the progression of man; where we were, where we are, and where we are going. It is set in the fictional 2001, because that is the birth of a new century; a new beginning.