2001: A Space Odyssey is a monumental film, possibly the best ever made in the history of cinema. Part of its allure comes from the cryptic ending, which has sparked debates among science fiction enthusiasts since the release of Stanley Kubrick‘s work in 1968.
To quell disputes that still linger today and renew with each viewing, we present below the opinion of someone closely involved in the film’s production: the director.
During an interview given to a Japanese producer in 1980, Kubrick opened up not only about the ending of 2001 but also of Shining. It was a surprising thing because, until that moment, the author had maintained silence about his version, which, in his view, would ruin the experience of the film.
However, by 1980, rivers of ink had attempted to uncover every aspect of the sci-fi milestone in cinema. In short, all that was missing was for Kubrick to speak up – the most qualified person to do so.
Dave, in the version of the master of the Seventh Art, is taken by “creatures of pure energy and intelligence.” This is what the colors and hallucinations of the final scene are meant to represent. The director described the room in the last minutes of the film as “a zoo,” but for humans, where Dave is observed and lacks the sense of time.
The idea of the strangely decorated environments comes from how zoo enclosures try to mimic the wild. Thus, these superior creatures, having a distorted perception of what humans might consider beautiful, would have poorly attempted to reproduce French architecture, imagining that Dave would like it.
Subsequently, Dave “is transformed into a kind of super-being and sent back to Earth – Kubrick’s version continues – and we can only guess what happens when he returns.”
This suggests that the finding of the monolith allowed humanity to transition to the next phase of evolution, although the implications of this remain unclear. Following the director’s lead, everything connects, as the film would be the story of the human species from the beginning (the scene with the monkeys) to the end, when, as symbolized by the fetus, we witness the beginning of a new era.
I watch movies and play video games; at some point in life, I also started writing about them. I am fascinated by the lost corners of the internet, the graphics of early 3D video games, and images that fall under the vague umbrella of aesthetics, for which I carry out a compulsive cataloging activity that culminates in a few Instagram profiles. The TV series with the best aesthetics (and the absolute best) is still The X-Files, which I never finished because I can’t conceive the thought of “there are no more episodes of The X-Files to watch for the rest of my life.” Same goes for Evangelion (the manga).