2001: A Space Odyssey - in-depth analysis

When trying to understand subliminal narratives in film it is very easy to impose meanings that you are expecting to find as opposed to perceiving messages that actually are there. Even in academic fields researchers frequently seek out co-incidental evidence to support theories that they expect or hope to prove. For this reason, when you believe you have found a subliminal theme in a film, you must test your theory by looking for both evidence and counter-evidence. It is easy to miss subliminal messages in a film because most films are not conceptually deep and so we are accustomed to taking storylines at face value. But having produced and directed several short films myself I can assure you that very little of what you see and hear in any professionally produced film is there by accident. Virtually everything from choice of locations and set designs to sound effects, actors expressions and camera angles has been implemented by somebody involved in the production. So human expression is present on many levels and not just from the director either. Rather than simply saying “a cigar is just a cigar”, which is an easy cop out clause for those who prefer face value meanings, it is worth acknowledging that there are universal patterns in how messages are encoded into art. Surprisingly, these patterns, and the techniques for identifying them, have a great deal in common with basic encryption, decryption and code-breaking as used in computing and intelligence operations.

As an example, in the science of cryptography there is an encoding technique called Columnar Transposition. This involves taking a simple message and writing it into a block of letter spaces. In this example the name Stanley Kubrick has been written into the grid.

S	T	A	N	L
E	Y	K	U	B
R	I	C	K

The number of letter columns in the block is determined by a pre-chosen keyword, which in this case is the word “paste”, equalling a total of five columns. Once the message has been written into the block and any excess letter spaces have been filled up with random letters, the keyword is placed above the block so that each column has a corresponding key letter.

P	A	S	T	E
S	T	A	N	L
E	Y	K	U	B
R	I	C	K	V
A	G	Y	I	P

These columns are then reorganized so that the letters of the keyword now appear in alphabetical order, as follows.

A	E	P	S	T
T	L	S	A	N
Y	B	E	K	U
I	V	R	C	K
G	P	A	Y	I

Now the columns of letters are written out as a single string of letters, which of course appear random. This is how the coded message will appear for the example I’ve given.

In order to unravel the code the recipient needs to know what the “key” word originally was. This enables them to break up the encrypted string of letters into its original text block format and rearrange the columns so that they match the spelling of the keyword. The message then becomes readable again. Of course it is possible to crack the code without knowing what the key is, but the process is time consuming and laborious unless you’re working with advanced code breaking computer software. These kinds of code-breaking processes involve running the text string through a series of common algorithms that gradually begin to reveal portions of the message. The more pieces of the message are revealed the easier it is to crack the rest of the code. Of course this kind of encryption and decryption is mathematically based, making it something a computer can do “by the numbers”, but when it comes to the kind of visual encoding described by Kubrick the whole process becomes a subjective one that only an organic mind can process. Most artists engage in some sort of subjective encoding, whether they are aware of it or not. They consistently express or “encode” their own emotions and beliefs into what they create. Much of the time these encoded expressions are easy to decipher, but sometimes they’re extremely difficult. In the case of Kubrick, his films are very difficult to decrypt for several reasons.

Now the concept of a “key” or “pass” word in text and number based encryption is also applicable when we’re trying to decode hidden messages in art and film. The difference is that in art the encryption keys usually exist as concepts instead of words and numbers. For example in H. R. Giger’s art the idea of humans being physically fused with their own technology is a “key” concept that enables us to begin unravelling other meanings in his work. Another “key” in Giger’s work is that of human sexuality being an emotionless mechanism of reproduction. Most artists, though they may not be aware of it, have a personal preference for using certain types of encryption. Some painters place great emphasis on colour combinations to establish moods. Some writers create complex personal histories for their characters. And some musicians create notation that mimics the phonetic sequences of lyrics. The types of conceptual encryption in the arts are incredibly varied. So before we continue with cracking the code of 2001, let’s identify some of the key encryption concepts that Kubrick used throughout his filmography.

This involves the audience mentally placing one character’s identity into the body of another so that a different narrative begins to surface. It was used extensively in Eyes Wide Shut so that characters from Victor Zeigler’s high society party were revealed as being participants in the Somerton mansion orgy. This in turn revealed that the two parties were in fact one and the same, the first being wrapped in lies and illusion and the next stripped of such illusions to reveal an underlying moral decadence. The naked woman who sacrificed herself to protect Bill was also a psychological synthesis of Alice, Mandy and Domino – which revealed a hidden message of all women being viewed by Bill as stereotypical sex objects. The character switching concept was also used in Full Metal Jacket, where Private Pile and Animal Mother represented psychological opposites of the same mind. This in turn was a clue to the films theme of split identity and disassociation induced by military brainwashing.

Again Eyes Wide Shut made extensive use of this device. The masked orgy participants and guests at Ziegler’s party were revealed, through the paintings adorning the mansion walls, as members of European nobility – the clue to this concept was made most obvious in Ziegler’s bathroom, where Mandy lay overdosing on a red sofa, while up on the wall could be seen a large painting of an identically posed woman on a red sofa. Another excellent example of this was in A Clockwork Orange, in which the woman who Alex kills has a painting on her wall depicting a woman with the breasts cut out of her clothing. This reveals that the warped sexual fantasies we see in Alex’s behaviour, who had cut the breasts out of his rape victim’s clothing, are a larger social trend which Alex is simply conforming and reacting to.

The most frequent use of this concept in a Kubrick film was The Shining. Whenever Jack sees a ghost it virtually always stands with a mirror behind it – the bar tender, Delbert Grady, the corpse woman. This was a key to the film’s hidden narrative that the hotel was not actually haunted, but that the family were haunted by their repressed memories of Jack’s brutality and America’s bloody history.

This was a very frequent Kubrick device. As already mentioned, the two party scenes of Eyes Wide Shut contained a multitude of aesthetic similarities such as paintings of nobility, dancing couples and masks that roughly imitate the facial features and hairstyles of actual characters.

Also a favourite Hitchcock approach, this involves dialogue that has no reference to a specific context and can therefore carry meaning both in the obvious surface narrative and in the hidden narrative. For example, in Full Metal Jacket an indication of Private Pile’s double identity as Animal Mother is when the drill instructor says “Private Pile, you are definitely born again hard”. Another good example can be found in Eyes Wide Shut. While dancing with Alice, Sandor Szavost says “One of the charms of marriage is that it makes deception a necessity for both parties”, the two parties being a sly reference to both Ziegler’s Party and the Sommerton mansion orgy.

This is one of the most confusing devices of Kubrick and he used it with a skill that is unmatched. In Eyes Wide Shut the huge star shaped Christmas decorations have several meanings – they represent giant snow flakes, but also the hypnotic illusions of high society, and some reviewers have interpreted them as secret society symbols or as astrological symbols. The monolith in 2001 represents in the surface narrative - God, a doorway to another dimension and a piece of alien intelligence, while in the hidden narratives it represents the cinema screen (as well as a few more meanings which we shall explore shortly).

This is a Kubrick method that has lead many people to label his films as painfully slow. When he holds a shot on screen for an unusually long period of time, it is often to emphasize the symbolic elements and allow us time to ponder over the meanings of what we’re seeing and hearing. Sometimes Kubrick also leaves scenes in complete silence to encourage visual exploration of the shots.

This is the main factor that has led some critics to label Kubrick’s work as cold and emotionless. Rather than being an aesthetic preference it is frequently used when set design and compositional elements are carrying meaning, as opposed to acting and dialogue alone.

These can be especially hard to decode. It involves a concept being divided up into several sub-concepts and then embedded in different shots and scenes. The viewer must cross reference information throughout the film and piece the concept back together. The clues I have already described as to the meaning of the monolith are a good example of fractional messaging.

This involves messages being delivered to the audience outside of the actual movie content. They can come in many forms such as being embedded in a marketing campaign or deliberately falsified rumours about the shoot. In Eyes Wide Shut Kubrick worked with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, who were married both in real life and in the film’s story. The couple were featured in the marketing poster as being reflected in a silver-framed mirror, revealing that the content of the film was a metaphoric reflection of the audience’s reality. Another example of this would Kubrick’s rumours of endless takes in filming a single shot. These rumours were probably true in some cases, but also could have been made up to bring greater audience attention to particular shots. In the case of 2001, the many bizarre posters and production stills are embedded with very obvious clues about the films hidden meanings.

This comes in several forms. It can be based upon bio-semiotics, which is the audience’s genetically inbuilt associations. For example red equals hot and blue equals cold or black plus yellow equals danger. It can be based upon popular cultural association such as red, white and blue representing an English or US flag. Kubrick on the other hand, often would set up unique colour associations that are not natural to the audience. In Eyes Wide Shut the red pool table of Zeiglers parlour combined with blue lighting from the windows links the scene conceptually to the bright red carpet and blue lighting of the orgy ritual. 2001 has many colour association themes that have made their way into this review.

This method combines narrative logic with the symbolism of dreams. For example, in Eyes Wide Shut the story changes from conventional logic to dream logic after Bill has a pot smoking session with his wife. A unique trick of Kubricks was to film a dream sequence, but let the audience assume it is part of the actual narrative. The room 237 sequence of The Shining is a great example. In the surface narrative the room is haunted by the ghost of a dead woman, but in the hidden narrative it is Danny having a flashback or nightmare to having been strangled by his father for waking him up in an earlier scene. It is typical for victims of abuse to identify with their abuser and so Danny re-experiences the event as his own father, while externalising the abuser as a mysterious rotting corpse.These are just some of the frequent conceptual keys that we must be aware of before we can unravel the hidden narratives of Kubrick’s work. Before we continue though, I must warn you that this is a very long review because 2001 is possibly the most conceptually complex film of all time. Kubricks sci-fi ground-breaker has layers upon layers of symbolism, which will both amaze you and challenge your powers of perception. I am in no way claiming that all of the ideas in this review are accurate. Some of my observations you will find undeniably precise and others you will think are stretching interpretation to the extreme. My intention is not to map out a series of absolute perceptual certainties or to imitate the rigid self-consciousness of an academic paper. What I do hope to do is introduce you to a broad range of thoughts and ideas that will allow you to reach your own personal conclusions.In addition I would also advise that you have a DVD of the film handy as you read this review, so that you can double check the details of the film for yourself. So now let’s continue our analysis of 2001.