Semiotic analysis on 2001: A Space Odyssey
The sequence that we have selected for our semiotic analysis is from a mind-boggling science fiction film titled “2001: A Space Odyssey”, directed by Stanley Kubrick. The film was released in 1968, consisting of four major arcs which are ‘The Dawn of Man’, ‘TMA-1’, ‘Jupiter Mission’ and ‘Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite’. Initial reactions towards the movie includes complaints that the film was too abstract to be understood and some lamented that the film is too dull and slow-paced. Despite that, Space Odyssey is now regarded as one of the best films ever made and won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. The film basically explores the evolution of mankind from beginning with the implantation of a strange black monolith near the habitat of a group of apes (This is the selected scene that we will be analyzing) to their epitome of evolution following their expedition to the Moon, Jupiter and Beyond.
1.0 Introduction
“ You're free to speculate as you wish about the philosophical and allegorical meaning of the film” - Stanley Kubrick
2001: A Space Odyssey is an intriguing and almost-abstract film with minimal dialogue and explanations. From what Kubrick says, it is clear that the film was intended to be an invitation or a challenge to everyone of his audience to sit through his masterpiece and provoke and stimulate them to think, read and interpret codes, signs and symbols within the film and derive the meaning for themselves.
The nature of the film that is devoid of narration allows Kubrick to push his audience to embrace their own ideas and theories of the film. Having said that, although the intended audience is generally everyone, it is logical to think that Kubrick’s intended audience ranges from young adults to critics and adults in general.
2.1 Dawn of the men: The Discovery of Monolith
As one of the apes puckers up its courage and touches the monolith with its finger, the audience can hear Gyorgi Ligeti’s music piece “Requiem” being played. The chaotic humming and chanting in varying pitch of sound in this piece which evokes the audience uneasiness, depicted the ape’s nervousness and uncertainty towards the new discovery . The reaction of apes towards the discovery of the monolith can be seen as a mirror which reflects upon the society’s initial reaction towards science invention in the past. For example, the invention of photography and camera in the late 19th century received mixed reactions as the people were curious yet afraid of something they have not seen before and were influenced by rumours that having your photograph taken would have your soul captured into the camera. However there were also others who were ready to embrace the new change, much similar to the scene in film where this particular ape takes the lead by touching the monolith first.
The film moves on with the scene of the apes foraging for food. Through this scene we can denote that food is scarce before century, whereby there are only skeleton remains everywhere. The image of the monolith is shown again, a possible denotation of the passing of time and how the apes are getting used to the existence of it. In this scene, the monolith is aligned in a straight alignment with the sun and the moon. The bright sun here acts as a signifier, signifying god and its grand existence because the sun provides us with light, warmth and without the sun, there would be no life. The fact that the sun is directly above the monolith highlights the power that the 'sun/god’ is bestowing upon the monolith.
2.2 Dawn of Men: The Bone as a Tool
Moving on, we can see the apes inspecting the bones from a pile of skeletons. The ape fumbles around with it at first but at the end, it masterfully pick up the skills to use the bone and learns of the its destructive power. From the scene whereby the image of the prey collapsing is in sync with the action of the ape smashing the skeletons, we can denote that the apes had experienced a learning-process through the bone and had later used the bone to kill their prey. The bone here act as an icon of itself and the skeleton, and is the index of death. It also symbolizes salvation and power in this scene.
The apes were later involved in a fight with another group apes which results in the death of the leader ape from the confronted group. We can connote that the bone is elevated from its function as a hunting tool to a deadly weapon as the scene shows the first killing among the same species after the appearance of the monolith. They celebrate their win and drives the other remaining ‘enemy’ apes away.
The ape then throws his bone into the air and the scene jumps to the outer space. The scene of the bone being thrown in the air and subsequently jumps to the scene in space symbolizes or signifies the passing of time. As the bone propels in the air, it rotates clockwise, hence emphasizing that the scene is about the passing of time. The bone here is the symbol of the hour or minute ‘hands’ of a clock. The spinning of the bone depicts the spinning of the hour and minute hands of a clock.
The function of bone as tool changes as the film develops, just like how the function of technology as a tool changes in the midst of modernisation. For example, Albert Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity (E=mc2) which emphasized that a large amount of energy could be released from a small amount of matter, was a great discovery in the field of physics to generate energy. However, human have misused their tools just as how the apes misused the bone.The used of atomic bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan during the second World War had caused so many death and pain among humans, which Albert Einstein later regretted it as the greatest mistake he ever made in his life.
The ending scene for the clip which showed the rotating bone tossed in the air to a space satellite from earth suggested that although technology is a complex tool, man have yet to overcome their primeval instincts - man’s savage impulses. Risk of nuclear weapon proliferation or sabotage, radioactivity, nuclear waste leaks and etc; shows that man is constantly living in fear among the invention he created. Although nuclear power had been used as a sustainable energy source, it too had and may cause destruction.
“ Why does this magnificent applied science which saves work and makes life easier bring us so little happiness? The simple answer runs: Because we have not yet learned to make sensible use of it.”- Albert Einstein, 1954
3.0 Conclusion
The film, 2001: A Space Odyssey is an American sci-fi film produced in the 1960s, during a revolutionary decade of counter culture and social revolution. It was at this point of time that the people began questioning things and revolting against the norm which subsequently sees the emergence of the hippies culture as well as experimentation with psychedelic drugs and many more. Kubrick’s approach towards this film is heavily influenced by the counterculture aspects of the Sixties and is evident through his challenge to the audience to free themselves from being bound by traditional lifestyle and conservative thinking; by encouraging them to take a more proactive role during film watching; by interpreting the meaning of the film themselves as opposed to passive watching. All in all, through semiotic analysis we are able to read and interpret the signs found within the film and discover a whole new level of meaning to the film.
Word Count: 1417 (excluding Scene Chart)
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