OF

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The Making of Kubrick's 200
Leonard Cohen: "God is alive, magic is afoot. Magic is alive,
God is afoot."
Celebrating the start of the third millennium, Kubrick made a
motion picture that's a joy to look at, one that could be projected
endlessly on a museum gallery wall. The Guggenheim
in NYC! He wanted to make a motion picture about an event
that might occur within the lifetime of most of today's filmgoers—
an encounter between us and them. (It is probable that
the encounter has already taken place.)
The film's "star," HAL, a computer, was right when he said
that it was human error that was endangering the Jupiter
mission. (Look at The Times front page again.) HAL had been
overprogrammed for mission enthusiasm and success. He became
oversensitive to the human element.
(To her indefatigable father after three grueling days of sightseeing
in Washington, terrific ten-year-old, sensory-overloaded
girl in the Smithsonian Institution: "I'll walk through
the exhibits with you, but I won't look.")
We are all machines. (What happened to your lunch?)
We have met the enemy and we are theirs.
Getting there was all the fun.
In 2001:
The brilliant, absolutely brilliant, acting - a Kubrick touchstone
since The Killing (Timothy Carey, Sterling Hayden, Elijah
Cook, Marie Windsor). Here, William Sylvester, Dan Richter,
Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, Douglas Rain, Leonard Rqssiter,
Vivian Kubrick.
The brilliant, absolutely brilliant, use of music: "The Blue
Danube," a stroke of genius. Khatchaturian's "Gayne Ballet
Suite." Ligeti (who successfully sued for having had his music
distorted). ("The Blue Danube" was also performed in Dullea's
The Hoodlum Priest.)
The brilliant, absolutely brilliant, dialogue: "A woman's
cashmere sweater has been found . . . Sorry I'm late ... I don't
know. What do you think? .
think about it.
. . Deliberately buried, eh." Please
The brilliant, absolutely brilliant, sound effects: Breathing.
Laughter and chatter of the extraterrestrials examining the
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