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starmanpromoter · 8 months

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2001: A Space Odyssey - Full Breakdown

This is it. 2001: A Space Odyssey, the movie that changed movies in the Anglosphere forever. A movie that shows the evolution of the medium itself, and shows what the medium can do.

The Ultimate Trip: A Breakdown and review as I (re-)watch

Welcome to my 6000-word breakdown of the entire movie. This is one of my favourite films of all time, and the film that got me into cinema in general, so this has a special place in my heart. Many rewatches later....I want to articulate words about this wonderful film.

I haven't read the books, so this will be about how -I- think about the film! Read on under the cut...

Intro (OVERTURE)

Two minutes of blackness. With some creepy music courtesy of Gyorgy Ligeti. This is an overture, akin to a night at the opera. While this might sound unnecessary to many audiences watching it on TV, laptops, and phones, this tells you about one of the experiences you will be getting in 2001.

Unsettling, but that is what space is. They are preparing us for an odyssey in an unsettling wide space. It is an entracte, so 2001 truly is a theatrical production.

Now it's a sunrise. Also Sprach Zarathustra, a composition about the ubermensch Zarathustra. The sun rises above, a neat parallel to Zarathustra's rise over humanity. The sun, in a sense, is God, showcasing His creation.

The dramatic part of the music being preserved during “A STANLEY KUBRICK PRODUCTION” often gets interpreted as display of ego. But however knowing that science fiction wasn't a genre to be proud of at the time, this part in the intro is meant to be a joke, with the joke being that this is a movie that is proud to present itself as a science fiction movie ('Stanley Kubrick Production' is literally the name of one of the listed production companies of this film). You are supposed to laugh at it.

Dawn of Man

The beginning of mankind. The monkeys fight eachother over a puddle of water, signifying that we as humans weren't so different as monkeys when it comes to right to own things. In a sense, these monkeys are displaying traits that we humans still have.

And it came. A black slab —— the Monolith, that was not there, standing still, accompanied with Ligeti's music. And here in this scene we see the monkeys coddling into it, holding it with their hands. Curiosity, it's a natural trait in every single living being.

When confronted with something we never knew, it is in our instinct to touch it, feel it —— to understand it. The monkeys are trying to understand what it is.

Very soon we see one of the monkeys cracking bones, interspersed with cuts of a tapir being beaten up. They have discovered means of violence. This realization gets played clearer so soon after it where they once again, fight in the same puddle of water —– now with weapons.

The fact this happened after the appearance of the Monolith suggests something sinister —– the Monolith is a 'prophet', or a 'God', enlightening the monkeys (essentially its' followers/worshippers) on the act of violence.

A bone gets thrown. It turns into a spaceship. It is evolution of human history.

The future begins.

The Blue Danube

This is it. A vision of a future from 1968. A Pan-Am (how ironic) star-liner heading to a space station. With only few passengers on board, there are minimal amount of gravity, and things float.

The music is The Blue Danube, a romantic waltz from the 18th century. To use that piece of music to show the future only shows romanticized optimism that humanity can do wonderful things. The usage also turns the sequence into a ballet performance.

Somehow, this is reminiscent of dancing sequences from glorious Old Hollywood Musicals, with the stewardess's movements, she looks like she is dancing to the music.

This is a ballet in film form. A space-age ballet performed by spaceships. Something you would see in Royal Opera House on a special night. The Stewardess —– the only human being performing the ballet —– is dancing to the Blue Danube, and she is walking in a similar manner to a baby, learning to walk. The circular space station rotates like a ballet dancer spinning graciously while the star-liner quietly 'dances' with small pointe into it.

All the spacecraft, LED computers, and technology looked sci-fi for 1968 audiences, but a lot of them have become reality, and in addition, aged well. This is not so much 'science fiction' —– it is 'science eventuality', as in this is a vision of something we will see in our lifetimes.

This is a continuation of the 'Evolution' theme. Mankind walked the Earth, and now attempts to walk in space. There is a feeling of grandeur, and wonder that is ever-present here, contrasting with the violence of the previous sequence.

The spacecraft, space stations, all beautifully dancing to the Blue Danube. The release year being 1968 brings a poignancy that this is the bridge between Old Hollywood (1945-1967) and the era of Walt Disney with New Hollywood (1967-1980). The epic aspirations of Old Hollywood and the magic of Walt Disney, but with the messaging and 'agenda' of changing times of New Hollywood.

Evolution of cinema. That alone gives this sequence a great impression and awe. Incredible all around. This must've blown the minds of people in 1968, and I can understand why. It doesn't even look like a movie from 1968 (1966-67 if you follow the production history)—– it looked like it was made in 1988.

The slowness in this sequence isn't a problem. After all, it is a ballet. In actuality, not much is actually happening in this sequence, it's just a spacecraft docking, but Kubrick, Douglas Trumbull, Fred Ordway, and Harry Lange (along with their NASA advisors, they need to be credited too) took this opportunity to showcases the best of visual effects and concept art in 1968.

Simply put, it is magic. The beautiful visuals and music are nothing short of feast for the senses.

Dr. Floyd's Mission

We have arrived into the space station, along with the first spoken line in the movie, 25 minutes in. We immediately see a short immigration process, it looks way easier than real immigration processes.

The process to go to space is now as easy as getting a flight, which makes the depiction of interstellar travel in this movie quite optimistic than our bleak reality of space travel dominated by greedy assholes. Of course, corporate presence is still present —– Pan Am is the spacecraft, Howard-Johnson has an 'Earthlight Room', and Hilton seems to be providing the goods of space hotels. But compared to our reality, their presence felt like bystanders instead of chokeholds as their presence doesn't even felt like product placement. Undoubtedly, I am sure that Kubrick and Clarke would have been sad to learn the reality of planned commercial interstellar travel today.

Just like the the star-liner sequence before it, the design of the space station aged well with its' pristine white interiors and bright lights. Even in 2023, there are still places that looked like it. And now the 1960s are coming back in trend on interior designs.

The whiteness of the room is contrasted with obviously sixties-looking red chairs. However, the chairs has a timeless quality that it also looks futuristic at the same time, as these style of interior design is still popular to this day. This is a running theme in 2001's art and production design. It is obviously a product of 1960s NASA handworks, but it's practical enough to keep it relevant and futuristic.

Floyd then calls his daughter using a pay phone, and this is where 2001 shows its' age. As we all know, we have smartphones, but his daughter's lines (“I want a telephone” / “We have lots of telephones already”) suggests that she has a phone while Dr. Floyd does not.

Predicting generations after Gen Z being children raised by smartphones at early age? The generational gap between 'kids these days on their phones' and their older parents as perceived from the older parents? Of course not. Kubrick and Clarke definitely did not consider all that, but it is a strange prophetic moment.

The interaction between the American Floyd and the Russian scientists felt like a statement in 1968, that in the future, none of the cold war reality will be carried into outer space. To see them interact professionally without antagonization is a dream that we sadly still dream of today. But it also shows what artists of the time really wanted for humanity —– to just stop fighting and invent tools together.

A poignant hopeful message to be made in 1968, especially since 2001 was made right after the bleak, nihilistic Dr. Strangelove (1964). And then this is where the story starts. Floyd is heading to the moon, there is a strange signal coming from it. But it's been closed off, with Floyd's curiosity taking over him. This in a sense, is a showcase on how humans will interact in the future —– not so different than in present, only that the year number is different.

We see another star-liner sequence, now heading to the moon. A trip to the moon, it seems. Just like the previous star-liner sequence, it's also a ballet, while showcasing one of the many 'Movie Magic' moments of 2001, namely, the zero gravity effects, space-walk, the realistic-looking moon, and the elegant and graceful landing.

To create this before the moon landing must've been a difficult challenge, but the production team did it beautifully, and the results are mind-blowing, even though they got some of the physics wrong (No, landing on the moon will not produce dust! And also, moon gravity does not work like that).

And now the mystery unfolds itself. They head to a crater in Moon, while talking over space foods. Typical.

And then it appears again. The Monolith, now causing a ruckus on moon. There's an interesting switch in camerawork as Floyd and his squad descends into the monolith, as the previously calculated camerawork suddenly shifts into handheld.

It looks like they are eager to learn what is it in front of them. Just like the monkeys, Floyd's first instinct is to touch it as a way to understand it. A human being understanding a divine being. Humans in the face of a God in object form.

A buzzing noise blasted on their ears, and the sun rises. Is it transmitting a message, just like in the Dawn of Man sequence? Is it what it sounds like? Immediately, we jump to 18 months later without answers.

Again, just like in the Dawn of Man sequence, we are left with questions instead of answers, and we are also treated with a showcase of evolution. For this entire sequence, it did a good job introducing us to the imagined version of the millennium and the technological feats.

However, the characters are vessels for audiences. The set-up is quite abrupt and a bit sudden, and we're not given enough time to learn more about the motivation of Floyd. This is where curious audiences have to read the book, as intended.

Or was he entranced by the Monolith, compelled to seek and understand the mysterious God-like being? Even then, that is my interpretation.

It is interesting that the Monolith's relationship with humanity (and the monkeys) suggests something: God and Followers. Both sequences shows a God/Follower subtext.

The Jupiter Mission (SCHERZO)

Very abruptly we see a new act. 18 Months later since the trip to the moon, and presumably the year is 2001.

Just like the jump from the bone to the spaceship, this shot is showing evolution. Was the Monolith enlightening humanity to develop space travel that will go far into Jupiter? That is the question in your mind, probably. The ship design is a round thing with a long tail. Interesting design choice, but certainly realistic to real science. Like the ships in the Floyd sequence, it all aged well.

Cut to a man jogging in a cylindrical room, literally running in circles, exercising to Aram Khachaturian. Just like the usage of Blue Danube, it is an optimistic view of humanity's progress. In this sequence, we see one of the most famous instances of 'Movie Magic' —– the man runs through the cylindrical station with no regards to gravity. He runs upside-down to right-side-up. Although he is fiercely exercising, it still feels like a ballet. Again, not much is happening, but much is happening —– he's doing his everyday job.

Then we cut to him having lunch, joined by another astronaut. These two men are quiet, it looks like it's just another routine for them on the mission. An interesting subtle performance that most don't pick up here is how the other astronaut reacts to how hot the space foods he is holding from the oven (kind of like saying “Every single time! Can the oven stop doing this?!” with hand gestures), but it does not phase him that much. It is a sign of professionalism.

They're eating while streaming news on tablets, one thing Kubrick got right, a habit that we would do 40-50 years after 1968. Yet another 'Movie Magic' moment in that it shows something that would only be invented over two decades later. They even look like actual tablets from late-2010s.

The astronauts are very responsible and behaved professionally that you'd be forgiven for thinking that Keir Dullea (Dave Bowman) and Gary Lockwood (Frank Poole) were actually astronauts in real life hired to play themselves, instead of actors playing astronauts. They also look realistic, as they don't wear fancy aluminium/plastic costumes, only practical NASA-grade uniforms.

I can see why Kubrick cast these two, it's in part realism in that real life astronauts are younger people, and he wanted to subvert the tropes of sci-fi characters usually being old scientists with grey hairs. It actually works.

Keir Dullea as Dave Bowman looks like a real scientist (although his model-beautiful face makes him look like as if he's a Bishounen/pretty boy Anime character got brought to life. He's still a 'movie-grade pretty Astronaut'). However, Dave's look directly contradicts genre expectations that science fiction scientists needs to be older greying men or hunky dashing heroes. Dave is a younger looking, restrained, innocent, reserved, quiet, and stoic man with the looks of a pretty boy, akin to someone like Cillian Murphy (specifically him in Oppenheimer) rather than the usual dashing macho face of older Hollywood. Not how one used to picture sci-fi heroes. Interesting that a face like Dave has turned into what sci-fi protagonists look like today, especially after Star Wars and Dune (2021).

Many of the shots of Dave's face made him look like a space-age approximation of Mona Lisa. The striking eyes, the subtle facial expressions --- all there. Dave has a face that looks un-noticeable at first, but strikes your sight for how distinctive he looked. No wonder that the shots of his face under red lighting and screens reflecting on his face became two of the more iconic shots of this film.

Meanwhile, Gary Lockwood as Frank Poole looked like he's plucked straight from an Apollo mission. Astronauts in real life looks like him, even though Frank looks more conventionally 'heroic'. He looks (slightly) muscular and strong, more outspoken, but he looks like a working man from real life. He's a worker in space.

We later see mundane routines for these astronauts. To them, it's a job, and they are expected to be professionals. They might seem to be 'unfeeling', but that's what expected when you're doing your job. In addition, Dave and Frank have known each other for so long, they've probably ran out of things to casually talk about, and it won't matter much in their already-good working relationship. So all they can do is just doing their job as professionals.

And also, they WERE definitely chosen in the mission for their not-emotional reactions to things. Let's face it, space is scary and wonderful (like a fairy tale), and for these astronauts to give low-emotion reactions to space? That's a sign of high-level expertise. Dave and Frank are professionals at their best, and this is what people have missed on when they say that the actors were bland and unemotional. They have emotions (it is subtle), but when your job requires space and zero-gravity, all the unknown, exciting, and scary things about it will be sucked out of you to the point that they just become mundane things in your life. Their jobs also requires them to keep their heads levelled in the face of difficulties, however bad and ridiculous it is.

The acting isn't so much 'acting to give out story to audience' —– it's 'reacting to the plot' through subtle expressions and balletic body language and body motions. Dave and Frank are reacting to the world and story given to them. Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood did a great job at being convincing realistic astronauts, and my praise is sincere.

It is interesting to see HAL being portrayed as more emotional than the human astronauts. On the outside, it seems that HAL is displaying more emotions than the astronauts (well it's because HAL has no physical body to worry about space!) It may feel uncanny, but these astronauts (Dave, at least) regards him as a crew member like them (as HAL said before, he has a stimulating relationship with Dave and Frank).

Dave's expressions (that cute smile!) as HAL talks about personal things looks like a comforting smile to a friend. These three astronauts know each other so well that Dave's interactions with HAL comes off as two good friends (heh) communicating with each other.

Indeed, Dave and HAL is exhibiting their stimulating relationship with each other. HAL seems to get more human as he interacts with Dave and Frank, but his interactions with the humans suggested that Dave and Frank does not treat him as a mere machine.

And we soon see Dave and Frank do their job outside. There is no music because it is space, space has no sound. This sequence is very slow (again, balletic), but it's to show how it's like in reality to do these things. Being an astronaut isn't that exciting, even though the movie shows us how beautiful space and technology looks. But of course, it's just Dave and Frank's life.

Now the astronauts are back on board. Dave gives a Kubrick stare to HAL (a gesture that he is worried), and we soon see that HAL have made a mistake, but HAL contributes it to human error. He read Dave and Frank's lips, even though they are worried about the mission. Something bad is going to happen, and Dave and Frank are adamant that things are hidden from them.

Dave's expressions shows worry. He knows that HAL is making a mistake, but he worries as if he's a human being making a mistake. This definitely owes to Keir Dullea's distinctive face that makes him looks like that he's going to burst to tears anytime (just look at him in the above image!), but it adds to Dave's character and his relationship with HAL. They're coworkers....friends. One is worried about the other. And he knows that there IS a compromise without killing HAL.

But still...they're left in the dark. So what should they do?

This sequence, overall, is where the focus of 2001 is in. The story, progression, and everything clears up in this sequence. Everything is gradually explained, we see more of the world and setting, things gets explained, and we see a set-up for actual plot. Overall, better than the Floyd sequence and provides a magic of its' own.

Helps that it actually has interesting characters, with HAL 9000 being the most memorable one (and easy on the ears!), though Dave and Frank is also interesting (and easier on the eyes if you ask me).

Also helps that it is less slow than the previous sequence.

(Pictured: The moment where Keir Dullea's beauty fully blooms)

INTERMISSION

Nothing to say here. Only a black screen with more creepy Ligeti music. In a sense, it's setting up for the mood in the next part of the movie.

HAL'S Mutiny

Now it's Frank's turn to walk in space. Immediately, we see our second casualty in the movie (the first was the tapir in Dawn of Man). As I have elaborated before, Dave must act professionally in face of difficulties. He isn't given time to grief and cry over Frank's death, he must take action to handle it. Again, this is the reality for astronauts in real life. Though, thanks to his Kubrick Stares, and twitching lips, it's clear that Dave is in some way, pissed off.

A lot of emotions shown in simple ways.

He even looks down in a way that gives off the impression that he is showing expression of loss. This is where my praises for the acting heightened, it is difficult to do grief and anger with minimal facial emotions. And through eyes and lip movements, the grief and anger are expressed subtly.

More murders soon follow. HAL shows his anger. This is one of the most sadistic murder scenes in history of movies, in a sense. The other astronauts are helpless, they cannot scream, shout, or beg for life. They can only sleep as their sleep becomes an eternal rest, forced upon them as their bodies gradually dies. HAL's eyes now shows emotions of anger, and it's all only a red dot. Incredible how the same shots of a lens can convey different emotions by changing the contexts. This is some visual storytelling, telling the story of an inanimate object's five stages of depression.

HAL does not let Dave go back in, and HAL is clearly mad that Dave and Frank are planning to 'kill' him behind his back as his reason, therefore conflicting with his programming. HAL also sounds irritated that he is being blamed for a mistake that he senses as human error (which is the case --- it's the fault of whoever gave him orders). This is denial, but in a sense, HAL was right, why would an AI lie to humans? He is programmed to tell the truth, and he trusts Dave and Frank (and vice versa). He's being given limited truth from humans on Earth....

Dave and Frank hiding from him, discussing their plans is a breach of that trust. HAL is panicking over the loss of control and his life at the hands of humans —– his creators, so to speak, even though Dave was not his creator. This sequence is an example of humanity's fear of tools rebelling against them, but in this case, HAL's fears isn't dumbfounded, and as a result, it becomes an emotional standoff.

Going with the theme of 'God/Follower' subtext present in the previous sequences, HAL is in a sense, regarding humans as Gods, and he is being rejected by Gods. Dave, in HAL's eyes, is one of the Gods who rejects him.

Dave enters the Discovery nonetheless, without helmet and gravity in an impressive zero-gravity dive. It looks like a ballet in 2x speed. Maybe the word 'Movie Magic' isn't appropriate to be used in this scene for the sinister context, but attempting to do this stunt without CGI is a magical feat in itself.

And you can actually see Dave make a cute little smile as he finally closes the door. He's glad to be alive, he's relieved that he succeeded.....

More Kubrick stare follows, and the camerawork now shifts into handheld, like at the end of the Floyd sequence. Dave looks like he is getting serious. In a way, the handheld camerawork enhances Dave's emotions and intention. Things are going to get serious.

HAL now goes into bargaining with Dave, now that he knows that his life is at stake. Now Dave is inside HAL's hard drive, with more instance of 'movie magic' being shown with Dave appearing to float in zero-gravity. We now see HAL's depression, as he asks Dave to stop. This is in a sense, an ultra-violent scene, as Dave is essentially violating HAL's autonomy and taking it away from him, while HAL has no means to resist. HAL can feel his mind disintegrating as Dave takes it away from him. Dave is killing a living being.

However, you can see that Dave had no choice from his distressed facial expressions, with his profile shots even suggesting expressions of sadness. Dave feels for HAL. Remember, he was sure that there IS a solution that does not require total shutdown of HAL.

After all, they had a good rapport and (stimulating) relationship in with each other. Dave isn't killing a machine, he is killing a friend.

(To be fair, Dave is....lobotomizing HAL but still, it is murder)

And to follow the 'God/Follower' subtext throughout the movie, Dave, a being that HAL regards as a God, is killing a God's creation, for being too God-like to the liking of the Gods who created him.

HAL resets to factory mode, and sings to Dave, easily the most harrowing scene of the movie as HAL reaches (forced) acceptance of his death. Although HAL sings it on factory mode, the choice of song makes it look like an ode to to a friend who is not reciprocating HAL's feelings, which accidentally adds a subtext of HAL and Dave's relationship before this scene.

And now we see the big reveal —– it's the monolith. They are in reality, heading to the monolith. The entire mission was a lie. HAL was right, it was a human error, and the humans were hiding something from him and the astronauts. The humans broke HAL's trust and programming that HAL has become more human than mankind, only to be rejected. Now Dave is all alone, heading to the monolith, with the revelation in his head.

While this is technically part of The Jupiter Mission part of the story, this storyline is very much solid. HAL and Dave has a great tension, HAL is very compelling, and Dave's subtle emotions actually is given time to shine. There are less 'Movie Magic' moments, but it is easily the best part of the movie.

There is no monolith in this sequence, but it is a strange coincidence that HAL's console looked like a monolith, even in the same dimensions. This plays rather well in the 'God/Follower' dynamic that was previously shown through the monoliths and the monkeys and humans.

HAL is a tool built in the image of Gods —– Monoliths, by Humans, who is regarded as Gods by tools. HAL is a 'follower' for humans, but in the process, he gains enlightenment that reaches the level of humans —– Gods who created him. He is rejected by the humans, on grounds that such a tool that is shaped on the image of a God has the potential to become like God.

And now, the sole survivor --- Odysseus, is in the unknown waters.

Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite

Opens with impressive shots of outer space, especially Jupiter and its' moons. Now we are at the penultimate scene. Dave is all alone, facing the unknown, something that isn't part of his job. He's not touching the monolith —– he is going inside it.

Dave is looking for any intelligent being behind he monolith. Will it be aliens, gods (which would appeal to Clarke's dabbling into South Asian mythology), or simply advanced humans? We don't see it, and it is a brilliant choice in Kubrick and Clarke's part. Our imaginations will always come up with better ideas of who are the ones behind the monolith. Lights begin to appear, colours are bursting into our eyes. The music by Ligeti becomes the only sound in the movie.

When people say 'Movie Magic', a lot of them will point out to the entire Star Gate sequence. It is nothing short of impressive magic, indescribable by words. But it is in a sense, a journey of enlightenment. Sort of one going through the way to Nirvana itself.

These light shows the road to whatever is above our existence. Dave is going through a journey that goes beyond humanity, time, and space. He is on the path of Godliness. We even see Dave's expressions as he sees the lights. It suggests that everything feels inhuman, and he is being fed with revelations that no human being should be able to take. Regardless, he is sitting still on the pod, not losing his sanity. In a sense, Dave's low amount of emotions is a trait that enables him to path of Godhood. All that revelation and is still going? Become God, you may

And we have arrived at the end of the movie. It's a beautiful Louis XVI-styled room (an unintentional call-forward to Barry Lyndon (1975)), made futuristic through the floors and the whiteness of the walls. All the computers in the pod are non-functional, which is very unsettling. When computers are unable to give information, you know that you are stepping into the unknown. This isn't Earth. This isn't anywhere in the galaxy. Cut to a heavily-aged Dave. This is Limbo.

In Limbo, you will experience your entire life in flashes. The concept of time does not exist in Limbo, you will just age rapidly and die. The process has just begun for Dave.

His expression looked like someone who has seen really harsh, unacceptable (to human capabilities of thought), inhuman things. Things that a human being should not be seeing and knowing. And Dave is stuck on that room. As he is no longer human.

There is a bathroom (in a Stanley Kubrick picture, bathrooms are signs of 'shit is about to happen'), and the bed has clothes laid on it. Why not take a nice bath? that's what the limbo suggests.

This also provides an excuse for Dave to look in the mirror in shock of his aging face. The bathrooms has alien sounds, which are probably the voices behind the monolith. Dave turns around only to see himself aging further, having a proper meal after two hours of space food being shown to us. If you noticed something, none of the Daves ever return to the position where they stood before. They're always somewhere else —– going forward, never going back. Now we see Dave in his deathbed, with the monolith in front of him.

David Bowman is ascending into Godhood. He is to be rebirth as a Divinity, a reward for his actions in the face of adversaries, and a reward for keeping his humanity.

This is easily the most 'abstract' sequence in the movie, and undoubtedly the MOST confusing of all. Yes, it operates in “show, don't tell” to the extremes. It BOTH works and does not work. This sequence can either make or break audiences. It is easy to see why people gets divided over this.

Though, it is nothing short of visual feasts. I do think there IS a reason for that. These visual feasts turns your brain on and think of the infinite. Is there something beyond the infinite? It is the question that this sequence asks you, and Kubrick and Clarke wants you to ask it yourself, while interpreting what does beyond the infinite looks like for you.

DESCENSION OF THE STAR CHILD (FINALE)

Thus spoke Zarathustra. The piece of music from the Overture returns. If the intro shows a creation of God, then the finale actually shows a God. Dave have been reborn into a child —– not a human child, but rather, a divine child. The Star Child.

He turns over, and looks at Earth. He will bring message to humanity.

FIN

All those visual feasts, and trips to infinity. That is 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is a movie about the infinite potentials and capabilities of humanity, as well as the limits of humanity, and what happens when humanity goes beyond the limit. It also has something to say, in regards to human instincts of curiosity and violence and how it evolves while humanity faces evolution. It is a celebration of humanity, and ascension from humanity, while interrogating itself through subtexts.

Evolution, Violence, Godliness, God.

Mankind creates tools through messages from God, Mankind uses tools to enact violence that is engrained within, Mankind evolves and so does their tools and forms of violence. Mankind seeks more than tools and violence by turning to God, Mankind sends the best possible human being to face God, The human being is given adversaries, trials, and commits forced acts of violence towards creation of humanity, The human being learns the truth of life and the universe, The human being faces God, The human being becomes God.

That is my best attempt to sum up 2001. It is a ballet about humanity and infinity. An actually great movie, with little fault on technical aspects from cinematography, art and production design, camerawork, to music. As a graphic designer, 2001 managed to stay relevant too in the realm of graphic design —– the usage of sans-serif fonts and flat UIs stays in reality to this day. Reality is much closer to films than we think.

I can even like the slowness personally —– in terms of film, Kubrick's thing is utilizing slowness to give our sensory and brains something to think about without overloading it, an aspect of his style that gets better in his later films, and often misunderstood by his imitators —– most Kubrick imitators keeps forgetting that 'sensory overload' wasn't his thing.

And as I have elaborated before, the acting is not cold and unemotional —– it's realistic, human reactions to fantastic situations. While William Sylvester (Heywood Floyd) and the rest of the cast in the Moon Mission do look professional and definitely scientist-ly, the ones who did the great job are the Jupiter Mission cast Keir Dullea (Dave Bowman), Gary Lockwood (Frank Poole), and Douglas Rain (HAL) who brought the movie to life wonderfully while portraying astronautics realistically —– special mention to Douglas Rain, who masterfully made us feel for HAL.

And again, it is not only a movie, but also an operatic epic consisting of ballets. Space Opera.

I understand if one does not like it. Don't worry about that. It is very slow, very subtle, reliant on subtexts, and demands your fullest attention and multiple re-watches. Not for everyone!

Though it is important to understand that my interpretation is not the real interpretation of 2001. It is meant to be interpreted by yourself, using your own thoughts and brains. Why am I writing this then? Knowing that I personally don't think that it is Kubrick's best? (that title goes to Eyes Wide Shut (1999) —– but in hindsight that one is much harder to write about than 2001)

Well, I just love this movie, that is all. I cannot shake off the influence 2001 has on media too, from Sci-Fi as a whole to K-Pop videos.....2001 has placed its' monoliths on them. And I am writing this to understand why it did. And I understood. It is truly a monumental film. A showcase of what the medium can do at its' best, giving you something that literature, music, and even video gaming cannot do.

On another hand, It's strange that 2001 caters to my exact niches, after all, “A pretty boy becomes God surrounded with beautiful space sets and visual effects and classical music, interspersed with a plot that concerns Godliness and Humanity's awe of the presence of God” does look like something I could've written, right? Yeah, that helps.

And that concludes this breakdown. It's long....but I appreciate you reading this long. The only way I can close this is that people who worked on 2001 deserves to have exoplanets, space objects, planetary craters, and planetary mountains named after them. Douglas Trumbull should get a spot in Saturn? Yes.

Well like in life itself....it is infinite. This post is meant to be infinite....

--- Also Sprach Zarathustra

In a world where only peace is lord, and men join hands in liberty…

Allow me to sing but this,

Halt, O time, for thou art fair beyond measure.

I wish upon your unending star – guide me to heights unknown

#2001 aso #2001 a space odyssey #2001: a space odyssey #cinema #arthur c clarke #stanley kubrick #michiru speaks #keir dullea

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a-dumbass-jester · 30 days

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Yttd x tma au!!

The main post with plot an a full explanation and story.

{Part one} (it’s much more bref there, this is much more in depth and organized)

This focuses more on the dummies bc I love them but I also think that theme of loss of humanity fits well with them {this post will have a lot to do this them and their plot}

{Art I drew}

{Ao3}

Words: ~4,500

- Overview -

Sara Chidouin - The End

Midori - The Web

Sue Miley - The Spiral

Tia Safalin - The Dark

Rio Ranger - The Stranger

Shunsuke Hayasaka - The Eye

Hinako Mishuku - The Desolation

Anzu Kinashi - The Stranger

Ranmaru Kageyama - The Lonely

Mai Tsurugi - The Slaughter

Naomichi Kurumada - The Extinction

Q-Taro Bugerburg - The Hunt

Megumi Sasahara - The Corruption

- Intro -

So to start yttd aligns with tma a lot actually!! First off chapter one had a very strong paranormal theme to it, as well a lot of manifestations/themes that the entities had though out the game. The most obvious because the dolls (stranger) and death (end)

The timeline fits to!! The death game happens April 2017, which is a few months before The Unknowning, around/mid season three(3). The change happens October 2018 which is enough time for the plot.

In case you are here for yttd and don’t know anything about the Magnus archives, tma is a horror fiction podcast where there are 14(now 15) fear based entities/gods, that feed of of peoples fear. And occasionally instead of fearing an entity, some people ‘sympathize’ with it. Becoming an vessel or avatar for it instead. I don’t think you have to worry about not having context to tma because I think I did a pretty good job explaining it. if you are confused a quick Google search will probably answer your questions. I even linked the entities wiki page if you quickly want answers. If you are interested in tma or even just a specific fear but don’t wanna listen to a 200 episode podcast, this is a rlly good playlist explaining the entities.

- Asunaro -

So basically everything is the same except that yttd and tma take place in the same world. I can see asunaro being like the Magnus institute in how it serves the eye, I can see it serving an entity as well, but instead of it being one entity, there’s different parts that are dedicated to different ones, because there’s a few asunaro matches with, the most obvious one is The End, also known as Death or Terminus, is well death. Considering their focus on death and a full on death game makes it fit quite well. I can also see The Web or the Mother of Puppets playing a part because as we see a few times (especially in the mini episodes) they try to control the participant’s lives like how they framed Alice for murder. but also in the way they had the ai simulations. They knew every way it could play out, everyone’s chance at survival, what they do when threatened with death, what they do when they’ve lost everything, playing with them like puppets. Due too asunaro’s assassin history in Kai’s backstory I can see them connected to The Slaughter as well. I don’t think asunaro would have started out serving an entity. The would’ve done what they did in cannon and then found out they exist and that they aligned with some of them and ended up here. The entities that helped them realize that would’ve been The Eye and Stranger. When they started stalking the future participants they caught the attention of The Eye, also know as the Ceaseless Watcher or Beholding. It started to let asunaro use it to get information. The doll thing was also an accident. They started to make the dolls to help with people mourning loved ones like in cannon, but got influenced by The Stranger or the I Do Not Know You and started replacing them entirely, and make them look a lot less human, and leaning into uncanny valley. like something was wrong but you just don’t know what.

- Asunaro’s Employees -

SARA CHIDOUIN

While I know Sara isn’t an employee, her existence still plays a massive part with The End and the company. Like I mentioned in my original post I rlly like the idea of her being deified by asunaro. So I can see her playing a similar role to Angus. Her father was fascinated by The End and very early on he started to raise her for it. Asunaro quickly caught on and was more than happy to help. So along with raising her to be perfect for the death game, They raised her to be the perfect vessel for The End. She didn’t become an avatar until during the death game. They kept her from becoming an avatar before then. She was heavily marked by it, but they wouldn’t let The End take her before that point. So when it did make her an avatar it was very sudden, and all at once. The entities were kept a secret for her entire life, so when she started getting the dreams of how the still alive participants would die during the game, she just dismissed them as simple nightmares what came with trama. But then those dreams actually happened. How she saw them die in the dreams is how they ended up dying in the game. And then the roots showed up. She saw the way death wrapped around everyone in a way only she was able to see. By the end of the death game She becomes The Ends main avatar. She goes from a sort of death prophet to Death incarnate as It and Asunaro takes more and more. She becomes their Angel of death.

MIDORI / SOU HIYORI

I don’t have to much of an explanation for this one. But i remember someone calling him the puppeteer doll, and that he kinda messes with people like puppets or play things, so I think it lines up with The Mother of Puppets. That and I think a simple basic kind of fear would work well with him. I could see him using spiders to subtly scare people, especially the people he’s close with like Shin. He is the reason Shin had an encounter with The Web in high school. I can see him as the head (or at least someone higher up) of The Web section/avatars. He became an avatar rlly young. He had always rlly liked The Web and With his connection to Asunaro he was able to connect with it, and commonly used it to mess with people. Even as a little 5 year old.

SUE MILEY / EMIRI HARAI

As I mentioned here she’s the perfect avatar for The Spiral, also known as The Distortion or The Great Twisting, If not a victim of it. In the game she gaslights people into thinking that their loved ones death was their fault, and she was also driven mad by asunaro. Due to The Distortion also having a theme of hallucinations, the ones we see in game would have been her doing, or at least part of it. This next part is a bit unimportant but I wanna include it anyway, I hc backstory is that she’s Mai’s sister and was taken from them at a young age under the guise of letting her research more of the disturbing stuff that she was interested in. They framed her death and changed her last name. Slowly they started desensitizing her, as she slowly got used to stuff like death and suffering. As well as loveboming her, stuff that can be used by The Spiral. That overall theme fits The Spiral to me. She becomes an avatar as an adult, when she goes mad in cannon. And actively used The Distortion during the death game. Like I mentioned earlier, she used the hallucinations to drive people mad, and made them spiral as much as possible.

TIA SAFALIN/MICHIRU NAMIDA

I originally assigned her The Dark also known as The forever Blind or Mr Pitch, because of the way tma blended science and religion with it specifically with Manuela Dominguez. I can even see her playing a similar role. Ok I have to be honestly I don’t have a lot for this one. I just rlly like the idea of Dark!Michiru. I can maybe see her becoming an Avatar trying to escape an entity. she was a researcher and maybe fell victim to The Ceaseless Watcher, and in a way to stop it she gouged her eyes out to sever her connection to it, and in the process fell into The Forever Blind. Also I’ll get into this when I talk about Hayasaka (in the dummies section) but I like the idea of her serving The Dark while he serves The Eye, two(2) entities known to hate each other. But anyway back to the eye thing, Hayasaka and Emiri helping her after literally going blind. And still being blind during the game and using a cane, and often using the dark during it as well. But yea I just rlly like dark!Michiru.

RIO RANGER

I’ll get into him a bit more with Anzu, but this happens after the death game. Where he is rebuilt and finds out about Sei and has a bit of an identity crisis. That along with the doll thing makes him end up falling into The Stranger. He and Anzu got close after the game. They bonded over liking to dress up/costumes and preforming. Anzu even got him to become a clown. So when Asunaro pushed her into The Stranger he followed, and went on a similar arc as she did.

OTHER

Obviously like I said earlier Mr Chidoun serves The End. I know there’s a theory that he and Meister are the same person but going purely of of Meister I can see either Web or Stranger. Web because of his association with Midori, and probably Stranger because of the doll thing, l can imagine him leaning into uncanny valley, he also looks a lot like Nikola, like if Meister was a clown. Kai was almost an slaughter avatar, and by almost i mean it’s what asunaro wanted, but he couldn’t actually fit it. I don’t rlly have one for Gashu actually. Maybe Stranger because he makes dolls? I can also see him leaning into uncanny valley, but that’s literally it.

- DUMMIES-

(Reminder that this post is important for this section)

The dummies overall story: so it’s the beginning part of that^ post where Midori was fucking around and put their human souls in their dolls and ais. It worked and after the death game they rebooted and rebuilt them. This is where it starts getting a bit different. They were still experimented on, trying to find the exact differences between Human and doll. However this time they are more focused on turning them into avatars. Anzu and Hinako were the easiest, all they needed were a slight nudge and they would keep falling whether they wanted to or not. Ranmaru, Hayasaka and Mai were more difficult. They aligned well with an entity, however they clung to their humanity much more than Anzu and Hinako did. They did eventually fall with a big enough push. Kurumada was the hardest to deal with. First off he didn’t actually align a whole lot with one specific entity. He had some connection to two(2) or three(3) entities, but not enough to become an avatar. They did eventually find one but it wasn’t even fully formed, they had to push even harder.

In order of when they became avatars

SHUNSUKE HAYASAKA

{important} As I mentioned in my Og post Hayasaka Is PERFECT for The Eye. On the wiki page, it says The Ceaseless Watcher fears are focused on being watched, Having secrets revealed, Horrible knowledge, Being exposed and judged, which works VERY well considering he was the one to watch over the rest of the participants. Before his memory’s were erased for the death game, he knew everything about everyone, he’s watched them all for a few years now. The Eye had originally marked him in high school, teasing him with the knowledge thing it has. he didn’t follow it because he didn’t know what it was yet. When he started working for Asunaro and they told him to start stalking the participants, it came back, and it loved him. He fit so perfectly, it couldn’t help itself. Hayasaka hated it. He rejected it for a while, until a few months in Michiru helped him get used to and accept it. Overtime he got more and more comfortable with it. He does become an avatar before the death game. So he has access to The Eye during it. I’m imagining him getting hungry at some point and tries to get a Statement, and ends up going to kurumada and asks him about his encounter with The Buried from when he was in high school. In which after he finishes he freaks out and almost blows up at him, but Hayasaka stops him and explains everything. I would also like to mention that he also acts a lot different during the game now. Going back the the {important} thing, he was much colder and assertive The Eye didn’t let asunaro erase his memory, so he remembered everything anyway. It’s also what tipped asunaro off to what Midori did, because like why does Hayasaka act exactly how he did as a human, and not his ai self. And why does he still know everything. The Ceaseless Watcher also told him what Midori did. And he tried to tell the others about it as well. Especially the other dummies because 1. He genuinely wanted them to know about what actually happened, and that they are really them and not an ai copy, and 2. He wanted to bring them together, so that had each others backs. ‘We are in the exact same position, let’s work together’ they helped each other get used to everything as well.

HINAKO MISHUKU

She started becoming an avatar a little bit before the Death game. Midori recognized that she had a lot of potential for The Desolation. So he started leading her down that path with getting her to go after and destroy the people who hurt her/people she dislikes. Slowly she became more and more destructive. It ended up real bad after the game. She knew exactly what asunaro did to her. How they destroyed her life and took everything from her. The sheer anger that she felt. She sought out to harm the people that did that to her. After that had started she began to spiral. Eventually she started harming more people, people that didn’t do anything to her. Slowly becoming more sadistic. she thrived on that destruction, the pain she brought others. One day She was burning down someones house and got caught in the flames a little bit after the game. She was the first one the rest of the dummies become an avatar. Hayasaka already was one. This made Mai, Ranmaru and Kurumada realize what exactly asunaro was going to do to them. Anzu decent made them realize how bad it was going to be.

ANZU KINASHI

Anzu’s transformation hit everyone hard. They had meet Hayasaka and Hinako after they started succumbing. They basically watched Anzu die. They saw a sweet kid become a monster before their very eyes and they couldn’t do anything about it. Luckily for the others their change weren’t that bad. It was very easy to get Anzu to spiral into The Stranger. All she needed was a push, first Asunaro wanted to get a proper mark on her. Anzu was already a clown and now a doll, both things very associated with I Do Not Know You, so it was very easy to get its attention. The doll thing was already a bit of a mark. But The official mark would’ve been similar to Mag 87: The Uncanny Valley. Asunaro got in contact with a Stranger avatar (probably Gashu if he wasn’t dead) and had them fuck with her(resulting in a very solid mark). This happened relatively soon after the game. Asunaro also got her interested in ‘The Circus of the Other’. (And even tried to reach out to them to let them know they might have a new member soon!!(if their plan worked(it did))). The lack of identity started soon after the marking. After going something so traumatic, she changed quite a bit. That and The Strangers affects starting to plant in her head. She also leaned into it because it had a huge theme of not knowing, she probably wanted to forget everything that happened and live in bliss. The disconnect from her identity only got worse she properly got involved with it. Her personality and just who she was as a person changed a lot, both physically and mentally, which slowly made her feel like she wasn’t “Anzu Kinashi” anymore. I mean “Anzu Kinashi” was dead (legally at least), and because of that, her being a doll now, and having to be cut off from her family. She was kept in asunaro’s facility. Everything was different now. She was different. Anzu ended up changing her name because 1. She didn’t feel like it fit anymore and 2. To let “Anzu” rest. I cant rlly think of a name she would choose but all I can come up with is Pierrot. At her end point she leaned very heavily into uncanny doll. She still Had a lot of energy and emotion but now there was something off about it, almost empty, hollow and fake. She also likes to wear masks. Not the one she used to wear though. That one’s for Anzu, she has a collection of different masks now. She still has the old one, it’s sitting nice on a shelf. A place to mourn who she was. The timeline is a bit weird. It’s main issue how fast can she loose it. because the game happens in April, while The Stranger’s ritual, The Unknowning happens August. I Hope she can join Circus of the Other before the Unknowning but I feel like that’s stretching it a bit. Anyways Breekon (and Hope If he’s alive) go get Anzu and she joins them, and kinda fucks around over there for a while, and properly leaves everything behind. (Also she knows English because she’s an ai now and can download it)

RANMARU KAGEYAMA

Unlike Anzu he had always been connected to an entity. The Lonely was always there. It followed him as he grew up. The ever present fog that was everywhere he was. With the hc from this post, first off I think a lonely ice skater could be rlly cool but also like I mentioned his parents were ice skaters and held him to a high standard and since so much of their love for him came from that when he wasn’t living up to their standards he felt less loved. More alone. He started to become a few years before the death game. When his relationship with his parents got worse and he started getting outcasted. He started falling into The Lonely. It was very very slow. But when he got into the game and found out what was happening, he immediately pushed it away. No matter how badly he wanted to fall into it and let it embrace him, he pushed it away. And clung to his humanity. He didn’t want to become a monster. Especially after what he saw what happened to the others. How they lost themselves. Eventually asunaro got tired of waiting and started isolating him. Soon enough they didn’t need to anymore, and He was doing it on his own. The closer he got to the lonely, the more tempting it was. eventually, he let go, fell into the fog and was never seen again.

MAI TSURUGI

Mai was touched by The Slaughter before due to asunaro seeing an opportunity when she started carrying around a knife but when she was brought into the death game, something touched by The Slaughter, and it’s affects over her got stronger, however it took her much longer to succumb to it than Ranmaru. Partially because she wasn’t as tied to it as Ranmaru was to the lonely but also because she had more self control. She was able to withdraw herself from it for a lot longer than he was. But, she did become. It had been terrorizing her for months to even over a year, and eventually, she broke. She became when she had an outburst of pent up anger and emotion towards asunaro and killed a ~dozen of employees and broke out to try and live normally again (or as normal as you can get when ur an avatar and a doll)

NAOMICHI KURUMADA

Kurumada was easily the hardest to assign. He never fit an entity like the others did. Asunaro bet on slaughter due to how violent he got during the incident, but he didn’t stay angry. He quickly burnt out and just didn’t know what to do. when he was taken into the death game and his memories were erased he did kinda regain his anger but it quickly faded when he got back them and even got worse to the point of being suicidal after he fully realized that everything had changed. He just wasn’t angry anymore. He was tired and did want to do anything. Asunaro couldn’t get him connected to the slaughter anymore. (I also didn’t wanna give the only character who’s not paper white the sudden violence one) he didn’t fit any other pre existing fears so he just kinda sat there for a while, watching the people he loved become monsters. And then The Extinction came into knowledge. The fear of the death of humanity and Catastrophic change. In the past few years everything has changed for him. The loss of his mentor and his dream of being an boxer, his humanity, he’s dead, he’s now a ghost possessing an ai stuck in a doll, he’s now stuck in a facility that did all of this to him. And hell he’s basically a different person now. Even the death of humanity works because he by definition isn’t human anymore. Not to mention he was in a death game and facility where humans die and are replaced with ai dolls. The Extinction also has a huge theme of tech, which works with kurumada considering he’s an ai now. Asunaro didn’t even have to anything to get him to start becoming. The Extinction taking kurumada is what made them realize it existed in the first place. After that they started to subtly push him in that direction. He was the last of the six to become an avatar. After Mai had her outbreak, the only ones left were him, hayasaka, and Hinako though she often went missing for days if not weeks at a time. And even then she’s only really come back to occasionally sleep even though she doesn’t need to anymore. So it was basically just Hayasaka. He did start to see some off the others again after he became an avatar. I like to imagine his avatar-ness being a lot like {this} I don’t know what to add to that, he’s just like that. He’d hang out in abandoned cites. The person finding him could be Hayasaka or Sara maybe.

- Other participants -

Q-TARO BURGERBURG

Q-Taro had a similar arc to Daisy. He was first properly marked by The Hunt when he went to America to learn how to use a gun. The person that taught him was a Hunter and they noticed that he he reeked of The Hunt, and used that opportunity to properly mark him. His affiliation with The Hunt became more obvious when the he was put into the game. The way he was so quick to weed out the weak and leave them for dead is something strongly associated with The Hunt. Because as mentioned by Jon in S5, ‘yes the hunt is associated with the Chase but it’s mainly the fear of being seen as weak and being left for dead, and being prey.’ His connection to the Hunt only got stronger as the game went on. During 3-B Safalin (or someone with asunaro (maybe Hayasaka)) mentions he’s becoming an avatar for The Hunt, and that he’s going to become a monster at some point. And this adds another reason he sacrificed himself and died in Keijis place. I also rlly like the idea of Q-Taro having a more animalistic fear. I also like the idea of him and Mai feeding together, since The Hunt and Slaughter are similar fears.

MEGUMI SASAHARA

Megumi has always been touched by The Corruption, especially after she joined the police force and made her way to the top. but her death was what made her an avatar. she comes back probably in chapter 2 and attacks the cast. She's a Corruption avatar because I want her to be as disgusting on the outside as she is on the inside (and because of the corruption in the police system)

- Closing -

To end this off I would like too add some hcs, specifically encounters some of the people had with entities, as well as some alignment due to most of them dying before they could possibly become avatars. I already mentioned that Shin as well as most of the cast, had an encounter with The Web due to midori. Whether it was more subtly like most of the cast or more obvious like with shin.Kurumada had an encounter with The Buried, that’s why his first trial was like that. The real Hinako was end aligned. Keiji is touched by the corruption due to being part of the police force. In my original part I mentioned desolation!joe and vast!mishima. Desolation Joe could’ve possibly happened by him finding out about what asunaro did to his father (and what they did in general) and wanting to burn it to the ground (think Tim stoker). Vast Mishima actually could’ve happened before the death game. I can see him a lot like Simon, painter who fell in love with the sky. I feel like his also pretty curious so maybe he’d have an encounter with the vast thought it was fascinating and wanted to figure out what it is. But as soon as he realized what he was dealing with, he would’ve tried to get away. The main story/ death game is still relatively the same, just with the entities added in.

Thank you so much for reading!!! This has been something I’ve been working on since October, ever since I started The Magnus archives. You reading this and listening to my ramblings means a lot to me!!

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