In space, no one can hear you scream.
But they can SEE you scream.

A universe filled with multiple unseen possibilities and fates for multiple lives. An all encompassing powerful monolith. A technologically powered overlord. Man transcending humanity. A plethora of stimulation for the soon to be expired human race. Your own reality, right in front of you, on the dark screen in your room, sending beams of light onto your shadowed, gloomy face. You are lit up, you can see the far reaches of your screen. Your mind reels as you see flickers of your room, and before you know it, you are enveloped by this blinding light. This light that takes you outside of your room and reveals the house. Then your whole neighborhood. The city, the country, the globe. It takes you far beyond the reach of stars. It takes you beyond what we know, the infinite.

More so than anything, this movie is about sight, and more specifically, what you see or is unseen. On a visual level, the techniques used are an odyssey of their own. The way Kubrick melded together film, paint, and music made this piece come to life, and assails the senses even when you try to look away, which you of course can’t for the life of you.

Let’s just take the opening for example. Just from the breathtaking shots of wildlife, and then of course the iconic bone moment, you can tell Kubrick is fully in his element, and in control. Everyone pushed themselves to the max in the making of this, and none more so than the brilliant visual and set team behind this movie. The lengths he pushed them to were extreme, but it produced some of the best work these people have ever done. A forever memorized piece of art. I have to give special appreciation the monkey men, and their ring leader who designed the most intricate costumes for them. Kubrick wanted faces that moved parts on their own, and Kubrick got just that in the form of an overly complex and many times remastered costume. The actual actors themselves are incredible, and no one talks about them enough. When this film first showed, and hell, when I first saw it, I thought they were real monkeys. That’s the level Kubrick strived for, absolute reality in a world of fiction. 

The sets are as detailed as the suits for the monkey men, and the ingenious techniques used to make it appear in space were ahead of their time, and in many ways, still remain ahead of their time. From the tiny details, like the straw dispenser foods, to the magnetic floors and ceilings, down to all the buttons and monitors. I cannot forget to mention the iconic infinite room. The amount of detail put into is astounding, and the peculiar situation as well as the contrasting styles make the room stand out even more vibrantly than ever. And then hovering before it all, one of the greatest symbols in this movie. The monolith.

Lots of people have theories about it, and it’s connection to the movie. I have a theory. Everyone does who has seen this. But the beauty is that it doesn’t need a theory. Kubrick doesn’t want a theory, he wants to show you a movie, about us. We are watching ourselves, and he lets you know. 

I can’t end this review without talking about the most stunning visual sequence in this movie for me. The Jupiter Infinite sequence. We are transported into this vortex that our minds cannot comprehend. A stretch of colors going far beyond the reaches of space and time. Mysterious landscapes that seem displaced. The shaking head of a shaken man. On top of all of it, one of the more unnerving pieces of classical music I have heard compliments the scene perfectly, and we feel the way Dave does. Heading somewhere but we don’t know where. We’re just here to get to the end. Technology has left us powerless over the outcome. We have made ourselves powerless over this outcome. It’s the most horrifying type of story, when you know something will happen, it’s inevitable, and it’ll be bad for everyone, but it will happen, because what can you do to stop it. You, sitting here, waiting for the journey to end, to see where all this struggle for survival leads. Has all of this progress in humanity been worth it? All the death, and destruction, and exploitation, and wars, and every sin imaginable. You search for answers but only more questions multiply. What can you do about what is beyond beyond? 

And so slowly, just as you’re about to unplug from this reality you find yourself back to where you began, down to earth, your city, your house, your room, the confines of the screen, and staring at a black screen that stares back. 

Thank you for reading 

Kubrick ODYSSEY
Appealing April