As a part of our Cinema Classic Challenge, we are taking a second (or third) look at classic films to see if they hold up in the contemporary cinematic landscape. Today we peel back the layers of symbolism, science, and the musicality of Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odysessy to decide if it is as powerful and significant as you remember, or a weird mind trip you hope you don't have to.
Film critic Garen Daly wanted to share his thoughts right away:
When you watch this film, even now...you can pick it apart, and say we don't have those kind of chairs and that suit is really hideous. There are some fashion faux pas, and they missed some of the scientific things that went on, but when you start watching the film, you accept its universe, you realize exactly how much intelligence went into it-- and for its time, it was spot on. It changed Hollywood. Nobody had made a serious science fiction film with this kind of budget--- with this kind of thought put into it before. On the shoulders of Kubrick and 2001, you can easily put George Lucas, Spielberg, and everybody else on top of that.
But what about non critics?
I actually think the ball has moved down the field, and what you're feeling is pure nostalgia. If you compare it to a move like Gravity, just visually, it looks like a cartoon --Bill from his car
"I think the film is remarkable. It is for all times. I think it is artistically, scientifically, and philosophically prescient. --Sheila from Dedham
Douglas Trumbull , the film's special effects producer joined us to share his thoughts:
"I had a buzz the entire time I was working on the movie, I knew it was extraordinary, and I knew that Stanley Kubrick was an amazing visionary film director, and I knew I was working on something that I certainly enjoyed, and I was hoping that other people would enjoy it as well. Here's my perspective: when 2001 originally opened, in 1968, it was called cinerama. It was projected on a giant curved, 90ft. wide cinerama screen, and that was my experience at the time, and that was the public's experience at the time. It was a trip. It was amazing, immersive. Subsequent to that, we don't see the movie on 90ft. screens anymore. Those screens don't even exist any more. So I'm in a state of chronic disappointment with the movie industry."
What do you think of 2001? Does it hold up for you as a masterpiece, or does it feel more like an outdates acid trip?
>> Listen to the full conversation by clicking the audio above, or downloading the bpr podcast on itunes.
