The iconic 2001 film? Space Odyssey, who introduced us to the character HAL 9000, continues to surprise and captivate the viewer, it is amazing to think that this magic dates back to 1968, a film that nothing, absolutely nothing, has to envy of today’s science fiction.
Dominated from start to finish, it is for many the best film that cinema has offered us to this day. Evolution and intelligence, machines and men, HAL 9000 and Bowman, and an ending that still blows away from one of the greatest works in cinema. .
- Few films have survived so well in time.
- Few films from the 1960s have effects that.
- To this day.
- Still surprise.
- ¿2001? A Space Odyssey presents the greatest jump in time in history: from throwing a bone into a spaceship; Stanley Kubrick sums up human evolution.
The film has almost no dialogue. It’s a purely visual experience, accompanied by a soundtrack that couldn’t have been better chosen. Without speaking, he speaks for himself and puts before us the main reflections of humanity.
In addition, it manages to unite science with mysticism, skepticism with spirituality, questions technological advances and intelligence itself, inventions still seem unthinkable at the time and have a character who, although not a man, is very human: HAL 9000.
It is impossible to summarize 2001: A Space Odyssey in a nut words, not only for its great contribution to cinema, but also for our own experience, so we will focus our attention on the iconic HAL 9000 smart computer.
We cannot pretend that 2001 is a work of evasion, of pure distraction, it is a totally innovative film that generates an experience for the viewer, the script was the work of Kubrick and the writer Arthur C. Clarke, and developed in parallel with his novel of the same name.
Visually spectacular, we must not set aside the soundtrack which, far from being an emotional complement, becomes a fundamental component that gives the film a formidable philosophical foundation.
The film is based on philosophical, scientific and evolutionary issues that have always accompanied the human being. The chosen soundtrack is largely the work of Richard Strauss. La choice of composition, Zaratustra spoke (Strauss, 1896), it was non-accidental.
It is a symphonic poem inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche’s eponymous work, in which he presents, among other arguments, his idea of ‘obermensch’ or Superman. This idea of Superman, as well as that of eternal return, will make them the two fundamental pillars on which the film is built.
We talk a lot about evolution, but little about the future. When we think about evolution, we immediately associate the concept with the idea that “we come from the monkey”, but we rarely think about the future of our own evolution.
Yet when we watch the movie, we can’t help but think: what if we still have a long way to go? What if we were just one step away from finally reaching the Nietzschean superman?
In turn, what Kubrick’s film proposes goes beyond pure skeptical, linking the idea of evolution to that of superior, more developed and eventually extraterrestrial intelligence.
Alongside the main plot, there is another plot related to the HAL 9000 computer, which leads us to reflect on the nature of our own advances and to doubt our own idea of the human.
The main plot is related to human evolution. Initially, we observed a group of primates that, thanks to a monolith, were able to develop the creation of tools, witnessed the birth of the first men.
Then, a temporal ellipse leads us to the moment when man was able to conquer space, the second monolith seems to symbolize that man is ready to evolve, but for this he must destroy his own creation so as not to be defeated by it: HAL 9000.
Then the third monolith leads us to a new spatial and temporal dimension, towards a reflection on human life and the passage of time. Finally, the last monolith appears in a scene related to Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam. “
What we see is the death of man and, in turn, the rebirth in a new being that will be returned to Earth: eternal return and superman.
Is man’s creation, perfection transformed into a machine that rebels against its creator, is this a metaphor for humanity itself?HAL is surprisingly human, even its creators do not know if he has feelings, he certainly has them.
HAL 9000 is the cornerstone of Jupiter’s mission on the Discovery spacecraft. Astronauts are unaware of the true purpose of their mission.
HAL was designed to never make mistakes, it’s just perfect. It is programmed with one goal: to accomplish the mission and not reveal its nature to the ship’s occupants.
Everything seems to go monotonously in Discovery until, after a conversation between HAL and Bowman, HAL informs Bowman of a flaw that is not in line with reality. How can a perfect computer, unable to make mistakes, be wrong?
This makes the astronauts mistrust HAL and they plan to take it offline. HAL cannot hear them, but can read their lips and, discovering the astronauts’ plans, feels a very human feeling: fear.
What happened? HAL is programmed not to fail, but also not to reveal the nature of the mission. Bowman’s response creates some uncertainty in HAL and some fear that the mission will not achieve its goal.
Therefore, HAL must decide between telling Bowman the truth so as not to compromise the mission or keep it a secret, which could lead to a failed mission. At this point, HAL faces a dilemma from which it is difficult to escape and resorts to something entirely. human: lying.
In this way, HAL 9000 ceases to be just a machine, becomes obsessed with the mission and behaves irrationally for its suffering. HAL has his thoughts, his feelings and is aware of his own existence.
Therefore, when he realizes that they want to disconnect him, the most human fear of all appears in him: fear at the end of his own existence.
In this way, Kubrick finally anticipates one of the dangers of our contemporaneity: the moment when machines will defeat and dominate the human being.
Some parallels were observed between 2001 and Homer’s Odyssey, as the word “Odyssey” appears in the film’s title.
However, the most interesting thing is the character of HAL 9000 and its resemblance to the Cyclops Polyphemus. Does Cyclops have one eye, something that visually resembles the eye?Red HAL.
Polifemo attacked and killed Ulysses’ companions and eventually it was Ulysses who defeated Polifemo; and did it by getting him drunk, stunning him. In the film, HAL rebels and ends the astronauts’ lives.
Finally, Bowman manages to disconnect HAL who gradually loses consciousness until his death. Bowman is the only one who can survive; will become a superman.
In short, this film arouses a deep reflection on human nature, on intelligence. The film, and above all its end, is an experience, a journey into the depths of humanity.
Simply put, Kubrick has managed to create a film that delves into infinite philosophical problems and introduces us to a character like HAL 9000, a character who, without human form, is extraordinarily human.
“I’m sorry, Dave. HAL 9000?