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Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey

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The year is 1968. The Vietnam War is in full swing, Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated, and American Cinema is approaching a new renaissance. At the height of the space race between the US and the USSR, a film is released that is so different and thought-provoking, yet spectacular and beautiful, that people either walk out of the theatre the first time or go back to see it again. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a film about discovery and what may come of the world, but above all it is a visually striking and experimental film that only Stanley Kubrick could pull off.
Many considered 2001: A Space Odyssey to be slow paced and boring, and some even went as far as calling it annoying. It was a film that saw 241 walkouts at its premiere, Rock Hudson …show more content…
We know that it has something to do with technology’s ability to overpower man, but there are obviously other components to the film. Overall, thought, the plot seems to be unclear and we’re not exactly sure as to where it is going. As for 60’s cinema, an unclear plot with no clear path was sort of common. We see this happen in films such as The Graduate where both the audience and Dustin Hoffman’s character have no idea as to what will happen next or as to what the next move should be. At this point in time, cinema is seriously considered to be a type of art. It is allowed to be confusing and experimental, and as Simon Hitchman claims, “...was thematically complex, formally innovative, morally ambiguous, anti-establishment, and rich in mythic resonance. They spoke for a generation disillusioned by the Vietnam War, disenchanted by the ruling elite, and less willing to conform than their parents” (Hitchman).
However, when we think of New Hollywood films, we think of Midnight Cowboy, Bonnie and Clyde, and The Graduate. The last film we think about is 2001: A Space Odyssey, and this is because this film was a little bit ahead of it’s time. Had it come about a decade later, it would have fit in more with the sci-fi movies of the seventies (Star Wars, E.T, etc.). New Hollywood films were all about sex, drugs, and rebelling against the American dream. Kubrick’s film really had nothing in common with the rest of the …show more content…
As mentioned before, when it comes to dialogue, there is very little of it for us to analyze. However, many critics have mentioned that the dialogue between the characters is rather dull and almost unnecessary. It is as if the film could exist with no dialogue whatsoever, because dialogue only comes up when something absolutely needs to be explained or when Kubrick wished to foreshadow something or show the evilness of the computer, Hal 9000. In other New Hollywood films, dialogue is important because it gives the characters some sustenance. In 2001: A Space Odyssey, we are forced to watch Hal murder 3 of the characters that are in most of the movie, but we feel almost nothing when we die. Their deaths are not sad because we know nothing about these characters and this is mainly because Kubrick avoids dialogue and the formation of characters whatsoever. In films like The Graduate we either hate Benjamin or we love him because we know enough about him and hear enough of his quirky dialogue and interactions with other characters to form an opinion about him. It is the same with a film like Easy Rider where we have distinctly different types of dialogue for each character, giving them some history and allowing us to connect with

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