
In regard to the film's themes and imagery, Kubrick said in a 1969 interview: It’s certainly a memorable ending, rife with unique imagery and layers of meaning. So, what does the science-fiction film’s iconic sequence mean? This time, he’s a fetus, floating in an orb of light high above the Earth.

As Dave reaches toward the monolith, he’s transformed yet again. Finally, Dave is an old man, lying in bed, when the monolith appears at the footboard. Standing in the bedroom in his spacesuit, Dave is middle-aged, but, an instant later, he’s dressed in casual clothing, older and eating dinner. Strange cosmological phenomena, landscapes, and colors drift by - and then it all stops. Immediately, the monolith pulls Dave into a colorful vortex. Once he arrives, Dave discovers a much larger monolith orbiting Jupiter, and leaves the ship in a pod to investigate. Dave learns that his objective is to investigate the radio signal sent from the lunar monolith to Jupiter. David “Dave” Bowman (Keir Dullea) is the only surviving crewmember of the Discovery One, he plays a recording the supercomputer HAL had kept hidden about this experience on the moon. While scientists secretly investigate the alien monolith on Earth’s moon, it is struck by sunlight, causing it to emit a high-powered radio signal. This takes place millions of years following the opening sequence of the film, and comes about as the result of a monolith being uncovered near the lunar crater Tycho.

In true Stanley Kubrick fashion, the actual film is much more nuanced and complex. RELATED: Stanley Kubrick Screened This Cult Horror Classic For The Shining Cast & Crew What Is The Monolith In 2001: A Space Odyssey?ĭistilled into a one-sentence logline, 2001: A Space Odyssey follows the journey of astronauts, scientists, and HAL, a sentient supercomputer, as they journey to Jupiter to investigate an alien monolith. So, what is the black monolith’s meaning? Here’s what to know. But as Kubrick’s film progresses, the monolith’s meaning becomes a bit more complex. The same is true in the film, as evidenced by the opening sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Throughout Clarke’s series, the presence of these structures encourages progress, especially in regard to technological development.
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After encountering the monolith, the tribe learns how to make weapons, allowing them to reclaim their watering hole. The monolith, somehow, triggers an evolutionary shift. And, much like in Clarke’s series, the appearance of the monolith aids these human forerunners in an unexpected way. The towering, geometrically precise structure looks much as it’s described in Arthur C. Displaced and searching for a new place to settle, this prehistoric group stumbles upon a strange alien monolith. A group of hominins drives another hominin tribe away from their water source. Despite its very science fiction-centered title, the opening sequence of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is set in a prehistoric veldt some millions of years before the central story begins.
