We made a special effort to see 2001 A Space Odyssey at the Paramount Theatre last night. It is one of those movies that should be seen only on the big screen. We’ve seen it at the Paramount before, but this is a newly-restored 70mm print with six-track stereo sound.
Roger Ebert heightened our interest in seeing 2001 again by publicizing the controversy over the rerelease. Unfortunately, his remarks have now vanished into the ether of the internet.
Tears rolled down my face in the opening scene as the heavenly bodies align to the now famous, and often-parodied, strains of “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”. The moment conjures a vision of the future from the past. It’s 30 years ago and I’m in junior high school and the year 2001 is so unimaginably in the future that I doubt that I’ll even live to see it. Now suddenly it is 2002 and the future has passed; the future is past.
If you have the opportunity to see this rereleased version in the theatre, do so. If you have never seen 2001 A Space Odyssey before, understand going in that it is a very slow movie. Nothing happens and when it does you don’t understand what’s going on anyway. Understand with your heart, not your mind. Approach the movie through the music and watch, amazed, the waltz of the universe.
And now for something completely different, the Lego parody.