The other day I watched a documentary about "2001" on YouTube. It has been
my favourite movie for a long time and the documentary prompted me to re-explore what
the film means.
The documentary I watched, "2001: A Space Odyssey - The Making Of A Myth", was made
in 2001 by the BBC's Channel 4. In a series of interviews the documentary
explores how they made the film, and what it meant. You can watch the
documentary here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpoPhQNrpjE
However, they didn't talk about what I thought as an
important aspect of the film: the parallel between the Monolith story and the
HAL story.
Arthur C. Clarke often said that if you could understand "2001", then they had failed.
The film is meant to provoke us to contemplate the nature of the Universe and
our place in it. Nevertheless, I still feel we can find value when we try to
find meaning in the film. At least in part, my interpretation is based on the
book.
The Monolith Story
and the HAL Story
As far as I can recall, when people talk about the HAL
subplot, they don't relate it to main plot about the Monolith. I think that the
two are related. Maybe people feel it is too obvious to mention. I'm not sure
when I came to that view. It may have been a short time after I saw the film.
Initially, it seems that the subplot of HAL's rebellion and
downfall are not related to the Monolith story. But, let's reconsider.
In the HAL story, HAL is a machine that people have created
for their own purposes. As the story progresses, HAL develops behaviour beyond
what the people who created it intended. When its behaviour threatens the
existence of the people in its care, Bowman, the last survivor, has to shut HAL
down. As he does so, HAL bit by bit regresses toward its infancy.
In the Monolith story, the Monolith is a representation of
an advanced intelligence. The film does not say exactly what that intelligence
is. In the first part of the film, the Monolith sparks the flame of
intelligence in the pre-humans it finds on Earth. The pre-humans later develop
into modern people, with great abilities, but also with a legacy of violence.
In the last part of the film, Bowman, the people's representative, is
transformed into the Starchild.
I think that the HAL story helps understand what happens to
Bowman at the end. In the Monolith story, Bowman takes the role earlier played
by HAL. The Monolith, like Bowman earlier, is disappointed with how people have
turned out. While they may not be as big a threat to the Monolith as HAL was to
Bowman, the Monolith acts in the same way as Bowman with HAL. The Monolith
regresses Bowman back to his infancy. The difference is that the Monolith is
far more advanced that people and so the Monolith is able to restart (reboot) Bowman.
The film ends as a new beginning, with hope for the future.
"2001" and H. P. Lovecraft
While I worked on this post, I started to notice a parallel
between "2001" and some of
the stories of H. P. Lovecraft.
In many of his stories, for example "The Nameless
City
Bowman can be seen as similar to the Lovecraftian
protagonists in that his search to understand the Cosmos seems to drive him to
insanity. I don't know if Clarke or Kubrick were that familiar with Lovecraft,
or maybe it is just that I see something that isn't there.
Maybe other people can explore this idea further.
This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog
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