As the No. 1 science fiction movie recognized in history, "2001: A Space Odyssey" has always been a must-see film in many people's minds, but many people will be intimidated by its obscure plot and slow narrative rhythm, even some people I hadn't survived the opening of the film for 25 minutes without a dialogue, so I was lethargic and gave up.
In fact, Clark is also aware of this problem. He also said: "If anyone feels that they understand "2001: A Space Odyssey" completely, then Kubrick and I must have made a mistake. We want to ask far more questions than us. The answer given.” However, in the novel version of "2001: A Space Odyssey" and its follow-up works created at the same time, Clark is much kinder, and deliberately explained and supplemented the plot in more detail.
As we all know, due to the different themes of novels and movies, original novels and adapted movies are often very different. The same goes for the novel and movie versions of "2001: A Space Odyssey". These differences are due to the limitation of the length of the movie on the one hand, and on the other hand, due to the limitations of film technology and astronomy at the time, Kubrick made a lot of deletions and changes to the novel.
1. Why did the apes appear in the movie at the beginning?
Although it was noted that the chapter of the movie was called "Dawn of Mankind" before the beginning of the movie, it is believed that many people who saw this movie for the first time would still be baffled by the ape-man who appeared at the beginning of the movie without a line of dialogue, and even I thought I was watching an episode of "Animal World".
This part actually tells the story of the origin of mankind. The time span of novels and movies is very large, from Africa 3 million years ago (4 million years in the movie) to the present of the 21st century, and the entire "Space Odyssey Tetralogy" spans even 3001 years in the future, even It's 20001!
In the movie, Kubrick only expresses the origin of mankind through a few imaged fragments, but in the novel, Clark is much more detailed. For example, what does the ape-man who is surrounded by a group of animals on the arid land mean? In fact, in the novel, Clark used very poetic words to directly point it out:
The drought has lasted for ten million years, but these apes can only chew on all kinds of berries, fruits and leaves, to withstand the pain of hunger-right around them, they compete for the same fodder, which they didn't even think of. Potential food sources. However, the tens of thousands of succulent, succulent animals roaming in savanna grasslands and shrubs are not only beyond their ability, but beyond their imagination. They are in abundance, but they are gradually hungry to death.
Subsequently, the appearance of the black slate awakened the minds of these apes, prompting them to learn tools to obtain food and evolve into adults.
2. What is the purpose of the black slate on the moon?
If the black slate that came to the apes was to promote the evolution of the apes to humans, then what is the purpose of the black slate on the moon?
The answer is: guard!
The setting of Blackstone was born out of Clark’s early short story "The Sentry". It tells the story of aliens who came to the earth millions of years ago and realized that wisdom will be born here in the distant future, so they are on the moon. Leave a guard post, this is one of the millions of guard posts scattered throughout the universe. These guard posts guard all the worlds where life might be born. It is like a lighthouse, which has been emitting signals since ancient times, but the earth knows nothing about it.
In "2001: A Space Odyssey", human beings who were promoted by this black stone to evolve 3 million years ago finally landed on the moon and found the same black slab on the moon. After being unearthed, this "sentinel" sent a signal towards Saturn (in the movie, it was changed to Jupiter due to technical limitations at the time) to guide humans to find answers. On the other hand, it also informs the alien civilization that left this black stone. Humans have stepped out of their cradle.
In the same way, the black slate on Jupiter is not just a transmission device that guides David Bowman into the alien world. At the same time, it is also guarding the intelligent life on Jupiter and its moons, and even trying to destroy mankind in order to protect these lives. ! In the last three parts of the "Space Odyssey Tetralogy" ("2010: A Space Odyssey", "2061: A Space Odyssey" and "3001: A Space Odyssey"), Clark has a more detailed description of this.
3. Why is the aspect ratio of the black slate 1:4:9?
Anyone who has watched "2001: A Space Odyssey" will definitely wonder: Why is the ratio of the three sides of the black slate 1:4:9?
The reason is simple: because of simplicity and extreme!
The novel wrote:
No one can provide a reasonable explanation for this, but this is probably not a coincidence, because this ratio has reached the limit of measurable accuracy. Thinking of the power of science and technology of the entire earth, it is impossible to use any material to create a board with such a precise proportion... TMA-1 is an understatement, unceremoniously showing the extremes of geometry, just like its many other characteristics, so People are unforgettable at first sight.
When Bowman transformed into a star boy and saw the slate again, he also realized: 1: 4 : 9, these three consecutive square numbers will be the mathematical proportions of each side of the plate, how natural and necessary. what! How naive it is to think that this sequence of numbers will stop here in three-dimensional space!
The three consecutive natural numbers 1, 2, and 3 actually refer to dimensions. In a one-dimensional world, it is a straight line; in a two-dimensional world, it is a 1:4 plane; in a three-dimensional world, it is a 1:4:9 cuboid. In the four-dimensional and higher-dimensional space, the sides of the black slate will continue indefinitely: 16, 25, 36...
In "Three-Body 2: The Dark Forest", Liu Cixin also mentioned the black slate when describing the absolutely smooth water droplets, but here, Da Liu mistakenly wrote 1:4:9 as 1:3:9.
More than two centuries ago, in his novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur Clark described a black obelisk left by an extraterrestrial super civilization on the moon. The investigator used a normal ruler to measure the three sides of the obelisk. The length ratio is 1:3:9. In the future, no matter what more accurate method is used to measure, the highest accuracy of measurement technology on the earth is exhausted. The ratio of the three sides of the obelisk is still accurate 1:3:9, without any error. . Clark wrote: That civilization arrogantly showed its power in this way.
Now, mankind is facing a more arrogant display of power. (That is, the absolutely smooth water droplets of the Trisolaran)
Today, the black slate has long become a metaphysical symbol of things beyond human scientific cognition.
4. Why did Hal 9000 kill the crew?
There is no explanation for how Hal 9000 killed the crew in the movie, so that people think that Hal is a cold-blooded human killer. He has become a nightmare of human beings against artificial intelligence. He was even named by the American Film Academy as one of the 50 biggest villains in film history. The 13th place.
In the novel, Clark gave a reasonable and heart-wrenching logical explanation for Hal's killing. In fact, Hal is born innocent and cute . For him, fulfilling the assigned tasks is not only an obsession, but also the only reason for his existence. His mission is to guide Discovery to Jupiter to explore alien civilization, but he alone knows this secret.
During the voyage, Hal felt that there was a kind of conflict that was gradually destroying his inner consistency-the conflict between the truth and the concealment of the truth. This conflict caused him to start making mistakes, and when Bowman threatened to disconnect him, he decided to protect himself because:
For Hal, it was tantamount to death. Because he has never experienced sleep, he has no way of knowing that he can wake up again after falling asleep...
"2001: A Space Odyssey" can be said to be the first movie and novel with artificial intelligence as the protagonist. Hal 9000 is also the most human character in "2001: A Space Odyssey" (none of them), as someone said " Hal's struggle and pleading before his death are more like humans than any human being." It can be quietly revealed that in the last three works of "A Space Odyssey", Hal will be resurrected by its creator, Dr. Chandra, and become a god-like existence.
5. What exactly did Bowman pass through?
The colorful image that Bowman passed through is the most psychedelic and most psychedelic part of the whole film, but there is no explanation in the film about what exactly is going through. However, in the novel, Clark used three entire chapters to describe, namely "Super Central Station", "Unusual Sky" and "Hell".
In the process of crossing, Bowman felt that he had crossed the Interstellar Central Station, the huge orbital parking lot, the alien commercial plaza, the garbage dump, and even saw the migration activities between the stars. Of course, he saw more colorful Star.
When Bauman traveled, the last message left to the people on earth was: "This thing is hollow, extending infinitely, and-God, it's all stars!"
When he stopped again, he was already in a hotel suite 20,000 light-years away from the earth.
6. Why does a room suddenly appear?
In the movie, David Bowman walked through the Stargate and came to a room, which looked no different from any room on earth.
In fact, this is a reception of aliens to David Bowman! The novel wrote:
The pod was parked on a smooth floor-this is an elegant but uncommon hotel suite, the kind of hotel suite that can be found in any major city on the planet. He saw a living room with a coffee table, a couch, a dozen chairs, a desk, a few lamps, and a half-full bookshelf with a few magazines on it, and even a pot of flowers. On one wall is Van Gogh's painting "Al's Suspension Bridge", and on the other wall is "Christina's World" by American painter Weiss. He believes that if you open the desk drawer, there will be a Gideon version of the Bible that every hotel will have...
Bowman soon realized that all this was fake, and that all these arrangements were not to deceive him, but-he hoped-to reassure him.
He accepted the reception. He took off the space suit, ate two bites of bread, took a shower, watched TV, and found that the owner here had an idea of arranging human life based on TV programs on Earth.
Finally, David Bowman lay in bed and fell asleep for the last time.
7. What exactly is Star Boy?
In the movie, the old Bowman is lying on the bed and pointing a black slate. The next shot is a glowing baby lying on the bed. It must leave many people scratching their heads.
In the novel, Bowman undergoes a transformation after falling asleep. He seemed to be floating in space, and then he lived again. He was walking up the corridor of time, returning to his childhood quickly, and then the flow of time slowed down and came to a moment of stagnation:
The eternal moment passed, and the pendulum swung back. Floating between the twin star flames 20,000 light-years away from the earth, in an empty room, a baby opened his eyes and burst into tears.
In fact, the star boy represents the next stage of human evolution, just like 3 million years when humans evolved from apes.
It is worth noting that Clark used the same expression when describing the transformation of humans into star children and the transformation of apes into humans , forming a wonderful intertextuality:
Apes become humans (page 31 of the novel):
Humans become star children (page 275 of the novel):
8. Who is the alien who created the black slate?
Although Kubrick tried his best to represent aliens in movies, he finally realized that you can't represent aliens, just like you can't represent God. Although there is no extraterrestrial civilization in the movie, it is ubiquitous. It is like the McGeffen technique commonly used in movies, and it has always promoted the development of the plot.
In the novel, Clark did not directly describe the appearance of aliens to us, but conceived a way for us to evolve civilization: from flesh and blood to mechanical body to pure energy state.
In the beginning, these alien civilizations were also flesh and blood. When facing the limits of flesh and blood, they built machines that could carry their brains and thoughts. At this time, they are roaming the interstellar in this kind of body. They no longer build spaceships. They are spaceships.
However, the era of the mechanical body soon passed. They learned to store knowledge in the structure of the space itself, and keep their thoughts in the frozen light for a long time. They can become radiant energy creatures, and finally get rid of the shackles of matter and transform into pure energy.
At this time, they became the masters of the Milky Way, they could roam freely among the stars, or they could seep into the crevices of the universe like a mist of mist.
Conclusion:
For 50 years, people have been discussing "2001: A Space Odyssey" repeatedly. Some people say that because of "A Space Odyssey", the meaning of human looking up at the stars is no longer different. The impact of "A Space Odyssey" on the space exploration and social culture of mankind is obvious. It expands the breadth, breadth and depth of mankind's understanding of the universe and itself. From ordinary readers to Liu Cixin to NASA scientists, they all got enlightenment from it.
Although up to now, we still have not been able to understand the fate of space and mankind itself, and it is not even a fraction.
But believe, we will figure it out.
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