This score imbues these scenes with a sense of awe, and the name of the work refers to a type of song sung during Catholic Mass. What the Monolith-of-a-film inspires is not easy to say. Sometimes it seems like this searching is like chasing an intellectual tail. Suddenly, it is transformed into a shot of a satellite above the earth—a satellite containing nuclear weapons. Just don't say it's a butterfly; that's cheating. On the screen appears a shot of the monolith with the sun rising over it. no Star Child. As a counterpoint to the bone and its menacingly threatening capabilities, we get an object of art; a work of art that has inspired many to search for its ultimate meaning. In 1948, Arthur C. Clarke wrote a short story called "The Sentinel," which deals with a discovery on the moon of an object placed there by extraterrestrials. The story is the inspiration for the film, fleshed out by Kubrick and Clarke. The same is true, I believe, of Stanley Kubrick's parable "2001: A Space Odyssey." 7. He is also the founder of the Collingswood Movie Club, which meets monthly in the public library for film showings and discussion. we can't explain it except to say that it works. Pelosi Sets 48 Hour Deadline On Relief Bill Negotiations, sooner or later nations will be fighting over sources of fresh water. In a later scene, the leader ape is sitting near a pile of ape bones. 9. It serves a literal and symbolic function within the film, and within the literal function, the slab can be interpreted countless ways. As Kubrick pointed out in an interview on the 2001 Blu-ray: Can you imagine the evolutionary development that much older life forms have taken? Read, Learn, Absorb: The Screenplay to 2001: A Space Odyssey, directed by Stanley Kubrick and written by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke. I have never seen anything quite like it. Instead, the extraterrestrials shaped us in the image they wanted, resulting in an atmosphere of determinism that hangs over the entire film. György Litgeti's "Requiem" plays when the monolith is discovered by the early hominids as well as when Floyd reaches it on the moon. We can claim that the monolith is a wonder of science and technology, but given our lack of understanding, we would be just as correct to say it works miracles. I remember a recent news report or magazine article proclaiming that sooner or later nations will be fighting over sources of fresh water. Now, supernatural doesn't necessarily mean "magic"; it more broadly means anything that is unexplainable by natural laws. Like the world's most simple Rorschach test, the monolith symbolizes different things to different people. The look on his face suggests that he might hold it in until reaches the Clavius moon base. The apes. This final evolutionary state shares at least one trait similar to the extraterrestrials: the ability to traverse space like it owns the place. Exclusive - ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW @ Cinema Drive-Ins! Like a religious artifact, the monolith also appears supernatural. (Upfront, somewhat of a refinement on some of the other answers). The Monolith Gather comes to collect a Monolith that has fused with Aaron Stack, a.k.a. It wasn't the presence of the Monolith but Moonwatcher's "thought" or memory of the Monolith that had become the source of inspiration. This is a nod to several religious beliefs that claim God (or the Gods) created humans to be in his image, such as in Genesis 1:27. His plays have been performed during the Philadelphia New Play Festival, the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, and at the the Gone in 60 Seconds and "In a New York Minute" festivals. The views expressed here are the author's own. This primitive tool, the bone as club, becomes the means by which the humanoid apes will progress and prevail. We are too clever for our own good. The ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey Explained . The first murder. They would be incomprehensible to us except as gods. Without the monolith, the hominids don't invent the bone club, they don't evolve into humans, and we become leopard chow. There's a good amount of evidence to back up backup Geduld's reading. The monolith points to entities that are so powerful they might as well be gods compared to humans. Their role in the film also seems to be to create humanity in their image. Enigmas from the beginning, the monoliths are still mysterious after the credits have rolled and the Blu-Ray extras have been thoroughly sleuthed for clues. One with all the information of the universe on it—we're guessing that's, like, zillions of petabytes. "My God, it's full of stars!" It originally debuted in USA. We don't really. As Kubrick pointed out in an interview on the 2001 Blu-ray: We can't even say what the monoliths do—are they signal devices or multi-taskers?—or how they do it. The monolith appears in every section of the film, but we never get a full explanation of its meaning. Kubrick, however, has pointed out that alien technology would probably look strange enough to appear godlike to humans on Earth" (Source). They lead to human-ness. 10. And their intelligence ungraspable by humans. It contains the answers to all the questions it advances. In other words: perhaps the Monolith is not meant to be physically present in the moment it is shown on screen; perhaps we are watching Moonwatcher reflect, recall, or experience the Monolith. Also, it isn't like the early hominids or Bowman decided they wanted to become the fulcrum for the next stage in humanity's evolution. The plot of this film follows mankind's biggest moments of progress, leading up to space travel and the struggle between mankind and machines. We're only dealing with the Monolith here, a fraction of the film, and there's no telling where the speculation will end. Upon subsequent viewing, I saw the scene differently. Moonwatcher and his brood may even find a way out of the wasteland and enter the Garden. All our technological ingenuity and we're still fighting over waterholes. An important shot in the first part of "The Dawn of Man" sequence in 2001 occurs while Moonwatcher (the name traditionally given to the ape leader) is squatting among bones of animals. Love it! Mankind's innovative qualities have denatured the human species. They alter the evolutionary path of the hominids towards that of homo sapiens, and later they change Bowman into a Star Child. A simple story; no psychotic computer murderer, no Louis XVI room with a lighted floor. The hominids are initially terrified—as most characters tend to be when faced with the almighty—but they soon gather around its base in a huddled group that draws parallels to bowing or kneeling motions used in worship. WEBINAR: Strategies for Year-End Charitable Giving, Gov. The monolith appears four times in 2001: A Space Odyssey: on the African savanna, on the Moon, in space orbiting Jupiter, and near Bowman's bed before his transformation. STANLEY Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was a film about…Well, what is about? The monolith points to entities that are so powerful they might as well be gods compared to humans. Tools allow them to dominate over the landscape, other species, and, crucially, other apes. The result is a type of scientific mysticism where science reaches such an advanced degree that it seems to us like magic would have seemed to early humans—i.e. Territorial dispute over a waterhole. And instead of shame over beating the animal to death, the ape discovers a source of food with fatty proteins to make him strong. Perhaps the most obvious is the fact that they remain unseen throughout the film, yet like a God, they guide humanity toward the heavens where they dwell (read: outer space). Jul 14, 2015 - Explore Nigel Timms's board "2001 Monolith" on Pinterest. 6. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 film directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Arthur C. Clarke. HAL was unconsciously constructed in the image of his maker, if by "maker" we mean the very thing that stimulated humans to consciousness and intelligence. He's feeling strength from this and the power. It was buried 40 feet beneath the lunar surface near the crater Tycho. The stages of the chase represent, perhaps, our progress; the chase could also be our pursuing our own intellectual tail.