50年了,我们离《2001:太空漫游》还有多远?

Remembering 2001: A Space Odyssey¹ 50 Years Later

It was 50 years ago that the science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey opened in theaters across the United States.

The film, directed by Stanley Kubrick, was based on a book by Arthur C. Clarke.

The almost three-hour long movie opened to mixed reviews in 1968. Critics said it was too cerebral² and slow to be understood by movie goers.

Today the movie is one of the American Film Institute’s top 100 films of all time.

Douglas Trumbull is a movie director. Fifty years ago, he was a special photographic effects supervisor³ in the 2001 production. He describes Stanley Kubrick as a perfectionist who spent four years making the film.

Trumbull said that Kubrick started out by planning to make the film like other movies, with tensions and excitement building throughout the storyline. But then he began removing all of the usual theatrical⁴ elements because he was working on a large 70 millimeter widescreen film.

The movie became “more immersive” and the more experimental it became, the less you had to talk about, Trumbull noted⁵.

To create this experience Kubrick built what Trumbull calls “a centrifuge set -- the big center piece of the movie.”

The cameras were tied on the rotating⁶ set and were filming in 360 degrees. This is how Kubrick created the images of the astronauts walking from the floor to the top of the spaceship.

And then there was the music...

2001: A Space Odyssey is remembered for its use of classical music, instead of music specially⁷ created for the film.

The music of Johann Strauss' “Blue Danube Waltz” is in step with Kubrick’s slow moving images of space. And the Richard Strauss work “Also Sprach Zarathustra” became a classical hit because of the movie.

In 1968, movie goers watched the film on huge screens with rounded edges in theaters. They walked away with Kubrick’s message: life on Earth was aided by intelligent life from outer space.

Kubrick did not use well known images of otherworldly beings. Instead, the alien presence appears suddenly, sending signals that teach ape-like creatures how to use tools for hunting and survival⁸. Millions of years later, in Kubrick’s imagined high tech world of 2001, the aliens make contact again. They urge human beings to explore the planet Jupiter⁹.

“And they get to Jupiter and that’s where the transformation¹⁰ takes place,” said Trumbull.

The only astronaut still alive on the spacecraft, Dave Bowman, leaves his body after making contact with the aliens. He enters a stargate, which takes him to another part of the universe.

Trumbull takes credit for the special effects that created the film’s famous Stargate. He also found realistic ways to show the Earth and distant stars.

Trumbull compares Kubrick’s filming of 2001 to current-day Virtual¹¹ Reality filmmaking.

“You know,” he said, “the time when the 2001 was made, it was in a time of…a Sound of Music, West Side Story, and giant screen theaters and you would go out, it was a big deal to go out to see a big screen movie.”

Equally important to the technology is the film’s plot. “The idea was that some super intelligent…civilization way beyond our imagination that to us would look like a God…was intervening¹² in human affairs from time to time just to make sure we got through,” Trumbull said.

The movie explored the relationship between man and machine. Bowman and Hal, the ship’s computer, fight for control of the ship.

Bowman wins. The film ends with Bowman in a hotel room the aliens have created from his memory so they can contact him. He is a dying old man. He is finally transformed into a star.

To celebrate the film’s 50th anniversary, artist Simon Birch recreated that hotel room. His model can be seen at the Smithsonian Institution’s Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

2001: A Space Odyssey has been re-released in IMAX theaters across the country to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The movie feels as important now as ever.

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

review – n. a report that gives someone's opinion about the quality of a book, performance

cerebral – adj. related to the mind rather than to feelings

institute – n. an organization created for a particular purpose

photographic – adj. relating to or used to make photographs

immersive – adj. complete involvement in some activity or interest

centrifuge – n. a machine that uses centrifugal force to separate substances or parts of substances

rotate¹³ – v. to move or turn in a circle

degrees – n. a unit for measuring the size of an angle

transformation – n. a complete or major change in someone's or something's appearance, form, etc.

plot – n. a series of events that form the story in a novel, movie

1 odyssey   

n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险

参考例句：

• The march to Travnik was the final stretch of a 16-hour odyssey.去特拉夫尼克的这段路是长达16小时艰险旅行的最后一程。
• His odyssey of passion, friendship,love,and revenge was now finished.他的热情、友谊、爱情和复仇的漫长历程，到此结束了。

2 cerebral   

adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的

参考例句：

• Your left cerebral hemisphere controls the right-hand side of your body.你的左半脑控制身体的右半身。
• He is a precise,methodical,cerebral man who carefully chooses his words.他是一个一丝不苟、有条理和理智的人，措辞谨慎。

3 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

4 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 rotating   

ing. 转动

参考例句：

• It can be used on rotating machinery and under water. 它可以用于回转式机器，也可以在水下应用。
• So a separate rotating aerial is used for that purpose. 为此需要用一种单独的旋转天线。

7 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

8 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

9 Jupiter   

n.木星

参考例句：

• Jupiter is unlike the Earth in almost every way.木星与地球几乎完全不同。
• The astronomers were taking an observation of Jupiter.天文学家们正在观测木星。

10 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

11 virtual   

adj.实质上的，事实上的，实际上的

参考例句：

• This reply is a virtual acceptance of our offer.这一回答实质上是接受了我们的建议。
• At that time the East India Company was the virtual ruler of Bengal.那时东印度公司是孟加拉的实际统治者。

12 intervening   

发生于其间的； 介于中间的

参考例句：

• Little had changed in the intervening years. 这些年间没有发生什么变化。
• The bank has been intervening in foreign exchange markets. 银行一直干预外汇市场。

13 rotate   

v.（使）旋转，转动；使轮流

参考例句：

• The doctor asked the patient to rotate his eyes.医生叫病人转动一下眼球。
• You can rotate the wheel with your hand.你可以用手转动轮子。