2001: A Space Odyssey

1968, UK-USA, Language: English, Subtitles: Hungarian (149’); Screening: 09.08, 20.30, Toldi Cinema, Nagyterem

When the conversation turns to sci-fi, the following image invariably leaps into the mind of every film buff: the stunning opening of a shinbone spinning in the air and the music of Richard Strauss, Also sprach Zarathustra. Few genres have been so defined by a film as Stanley Kubrick’s cryptic creation defines sci-fi. It is no easy thing to say what exactly 2001: A Space Odyssey is about. It is true that Arthur C. Clarke’s novel published after the film was released clarifies matters, but it is still interesting because the movie takes on new meaning at every viewing. It poses the fundamental questions of sci-fi in such a way that although this is one of the first works within the genre, it is still a synthesis. Even today, 50 years after its premiere, it remains relevant, currently precisely because of the issues it raises vis-a-vis AI. Music by great Hungarian composer György Ligeti can be heard in scenes played out in space.

 

Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Screenplay by: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke
Director of photography: Geoffrey Unsworth
Music by: György Ligeti, Aram Khachaturian, Johann Strauss, Richard Strauss
Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter, Leonard Rossiter, Margaret Tyzack
Genre: sci-fi
Production: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Stanley Kubrick Productions
Format: colour, 2.35:1

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