2001: A Space Odyssey
Kubrick set a new standard not just for science-fiction filmmaking but for all motion picture production when he released 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968. Divided into three chapters, 2001 was first marketed as a space adventure not too different from Forbidden Planet or Flash Gordon, a classic tale of exploration set against a fantastic and futuristic backdrop. But what the film proved to be—with its meditative “Dawn of Man” opening, understated performances, modernistic György Ligeti cues, metaphysical enigmas, and sublimely psychedelic finale—was an art film gone cosmic. The film’s narrative arc is minimal—an American scientist travels to the moon on a top secret mission to investigate a mysterious object that has been discovered below the lunar surface. Nine months later, a U.S. spaceship journeys to a distant planet on a mysterious, perhaps related mission—but whether it’s the thunderous blooming of Richard Strauss’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” the plangent intonations of super-computer HAL, or the ambiguous menace of the monoliths, 2001 remains one of the most indelible of film classics. A complete, immersive experience, heightened by multichannel sound design and 70mm projection, 2001 was a massively expensive endeavor that MGM first considered a failure after it was met with walkouts at its premiere and negative reviews from many major critics. But as filmgoers, particularly members of the burgeoning counter-culture embraced the film’s transfixing ambiguities and hallucinogenic conclusion, 2001 was rebooted as “the ultimate trip,” a visionary journey that transports the viewer to places beyond normal consciousness.
Make a night of it! Learn more about the pop-up dinner before the screening and make a reservation.
Bing Theater | $10 for the general public; $7 for LACMA members, seniors (62+), and students with valid ID; $5 LACMA Film Club members and Academy members.
STANDBY ONLY: Tickets for this event are no longer available for purchase in advance. A standby line will form at 6:30 pm at the Hammer Building Ticket Office on the night of this event. Guests in the standby line will be accommodated on a first-come, first-served basis, though unfortunately there is no guarantee of tickets being made available to guests in this line.
70mm print provided courtesy of the Academy Film Archive’s Film-To-Film program, an initiative to acquire and create new archival film masters and prints for conservation, research and exhibition.