2001: A Space Odyssey Name___________________________________Per____________Date__________________
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Name___________________________________Per____________Date__________________ Questions While Watching 2001: A Space Odyssey Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Based on the novel by Arthur C. Clarke. Some Questions Compliments of University of Washington Part 1 (THE APES) 1. What activities, no matter how trivial they seem, are the primates doing at the beginning of the film? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. While the primates are huddled together in the cave, one sits by himself. What kind of expression does he have? Does he seem different from the others? How? What's he staring at? (Hint: it's the last brief scene before fadeout.) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. How do the primates react to the monolith? What feelings do they express? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Later that day, what does a primate learn for the first time? After using his new knowledge to kill for food, what does he do next? Does this bear a resemblance to anything in the first four chapters of Genesis? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. There is no dialogue in these opening scenes with the apes. How does this make you feel? Would Mamet be content with Kubrick’s use of “uninflected images?” ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PART II (THE ADVANCED APES) 6. After the film shifts to the future, notice the activities the humans are doing, no matter how trivial. Are they similar to what the primates were doing? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. When Dr. Floyd calls his daughter from the Moon, what is visible to his left? Does he pay any attention to it? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. When Dr. Floyd discusses "the most significant discovery in the history of science" to the committee, how would you describe his attitude? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. When the astronauts approach the monolith, how is their attitude at first similar, then quickly different, from the way the primates approached it? What were the astronauts doing when the monolith emitted a high-pitched whine? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Part III: The Spaceship 10. What's the only part of HAL 9000 that you see during the film? What part of the human body does it resemble? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 11. During the voyage to Jupiter, when Frank and Dave are interviewed by the BBC, do they seem excited about their mission? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 12. What does HAL say is the one thing "any conscious entity can ever hope to do"? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 13. When Dave's parents send him birthday greetings, is their conversation interesting or boring? Why? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 14. Who is the most interesting character on the ship? Why? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 15. How does HAL figure out what Frank and Dave are saying in the pod? What does this indicate about HAL's personality and priorities? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 16. HAL traps Dave outside the mother ship. Dave then pleads with HAL to let him back inside, but instead HAL terminates their conversation after it becomes repetitive and boring. How does HAL differ in this regard from the humans you've heard in the film? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 17. HAL's speech grows repetitive and nonsensical while Dave tries to disconnect him. Does HAL start to sound more or less like the humans? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 18. After Dave enters the monolith he witnesses images of a tremendous explosion, gas swirling, land forming, etc. What do suppose these images represent? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 19. As Dave stands in the room, what is noticeable about his eyes? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 20. The room is filled with every modern comfort and the finest art. What do you suppose it symbolizes? What is noticeably lacking on the walls? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 21. Dave sees himself as an old man in the room. What things do you see the old man doing? Are they similar or different from the activities the primates and humans were doing? Does the old man seem happy? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 22. Just before Dave is about to die, he sees the monolith appear at the foot of his bed. For the first time in his life he reaches out with a gesture expressing what? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 23. The experience transforms Dave into a whole new kind of creature. He is made young again, symbolized by the fetus. What is most noticeable about the fetus' face as it looks at the Earth? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 24. It is often said that 2001: A Space Odyssey is a parable about humanity. What is the parable and the message? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
