A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey is a masterpiece in the science fiction genre. Based on a story by Arthur C. Clarke, the film epitomizes the features of science fiction, including an overarching theme questioning the role of humanity in the universe. The film could just as well be classified as an epic, given its length and breath, as it begins with the origin of human beings through a depiction of evolution from primates, through the story of a space mission occurring millions of years later.

Plot practically takes a back seat to cinematography and design in 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which Kubrick employs multiple cinematographic tools including music, mise-en-scene, editing, lighting, design, and script elements. The mise-en-scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey is simply extraordinary, because each image captures the tension and existential angst that pervades the movie. Because the bulk of the film takes place in space, a place with no natural source of light, Kubrick achieves his cinematographic goals by judiciously employing chiaroscuro.

In several scenes, the darkness plays as much of a role as the light. When Dave is about to disconnect Hal, he walks through different portions of the ship, some of which are well-lit, others of which are dark. The contrast between light and darkness parallels themes of good and evil in the film. In a previous scene, Hal has locked Dave outside, an act that could kill the man.

To show the magnitude of the situation, Kubrick opts for a mise-en-scene that is cosmic: showing the ship and its escape pod together in one shot. Doing so depicts how tiny the escape pod is compared with the main part of the ship, and also reveals the deep, dark vastness of space in which they are adrift.

These scenes can be directly contrasted with those at the “dawn of man” sequence in the beginning of the film, when Kubrick uses a sepia toned filter to signify elements in the distant past; sepia being the color of old photographs. In terms of lighting, Kubrik worked carefully to produce a film that looked at once natural, to allow for suspension of disbelief, but also symbolic and cosmological in scope.

According to Schwam (2010), who wrote a book about the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Kubrik worked with lighting experts during pre-planning to “devise lighting that would look natural,” and at the same time achieve a photographic effect (n.p.). In several scenes, the lighting is blended with the special effects generation, all of which was achieved without the use of digital technologies or computer animation, as is done today.

In 2001: A Space Odyssey, visual effects were “done inside the camera or with projection,” and in fact, new computer-generated effects actually “have built upon the old,” (Perisic, 2000, p. 1). Thus, Kubrick set the stage for future science fiction filmmakers to achieve desired visual effects using lighting and special effects to create an otherworldly atmosphere that audiences can believe and accept as being real. Directorial decisions including how to pace and edit the film also capture the mood and themes of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Most notably, the film languishes, demanding a great degree of audience creativity in interpreting and digesting the multisensory experience unfolding on screen. When it was first released, the film received mixed reviews in part due to its length and “uncompromising slowness,” and its unconventional storytelling methods (Chiasson, 2018, p. 1). Unlike some other science fiction films, 2001: A Space Odyssey does not include any elements of an action movie, although it does resemble a psychological thriller, especially as Dave is faced with an artificial intelligence that has the will to power.

Hal as the disembodied antagonist makes for an especially chilling story, and to achieve that goal without the limitations of traditional narrative, Kubrick relies heavily on elements like camerawork. In one scene, immediately before the point at which Dave is going to disconnect Hal, a long continuous shot follows the protagonist around the mainframe processing bridge.

Dave is still in his space suit, and the audience hears his breathing, putting viewers directly into his point of view, all the while having Hal’s voice pose the frightening questions like, “What are you doing, Dave?” The lasting success of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey owes much to sound and music. Both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds, the sounds that come from the story itself and those that come from the auteur, such as music, are central to Kubrick’s film.

The opening scene is one of the most memorable and meaningful in film history, relying not just on the visual elements such as mise-en-scene, but even more importantly, the use of bombastic classical music. In the opening scene, Kubrick contrasts near-silence with the intensity of pieces like Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra, a song that cannot now be heard without listeners thinking of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The music comes in at the time when human consciousness emerges in primates, and the morally ambiguous nature of this dawn of advanced intelligence. Intelligence and the power it generates is one of the main themes of 2001: A Space Odyssey, for human and artificial intelligence cause as many problems as they.