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| Moon-Watcher thinking outside the box in 'The Dawn of Man' sequence. |
'...I'm just trying to find out where you're coming from.'
-Alice Harford (Nicole Kidman) in 'Eyes Wide Shut' (1999).
'Millions of years of evolution, right? Right?'
-Alice Harford (Nicole Kidman) in 'Eyes Wide Shut' (1999).
I feel that ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ can be divided into 3
thematic sections, that of ‘Birth’, ‘Life’, and ‘Death or beyond’. ‘2001’ is
epic because Stanley Kubrick has told the story of humanity from our earliest
days towards the potential future far, far away. Often considered as the
cinematic version of Friedrich Nietzsche’s ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’, ‘2001’
captures a similar idea of the transformation from ape to human, and then from
human to the transcendent Star Child. In Nietzsche’s opinion, humans experience
the ‘three metamorphoses’, which is symbolized by the camel, the lion and the
child. While Kubrick has also been liberal to contribute his own ideas about
human nature to ‘2001’, a lot of parallels can be observed between the two
genius’ masterpieces.
The first 10 minutes of the ‘2001’, titled ‘The Dawn of
Man’, is about the birth of humanity. ‘The Dawn of Man’ is an achievement in
itself. Kubrick’s stunning abstractions have pinpointed the most important moments
that have transformed our primitive ancestors into Homo sapiens. The section
has also established some of the most timeless truths regarding human nature,
and has effectively set the tone for the whole film. As early as ‘The Dawn of
Man’, Kubrick has already foretold his audience that their assumptions will be
challenged, and there will be numerous surprises or revelations awaiting
them...
Living on the edge
While the title of the film suggests that the story takes
place at the Space Age, the story of ‘2001’ started actually at the very ancient
age, an age even before Homo sapiens started walking the Earth. At an arid and
desolate desert landscape, we found a group of ape-men, who were implied to be
human’s ancestors. These ape-men were living on the edge - they were always
prone to intense starvation and violent death, and they were on the brink of extinction.
The ape-men, being herbivores, were always fighting for food with some
antelope-like creatures in their habitat, and were often devoid of an enough
serving. Our ancestors’ physique simply did not offer any advantages against the
other animals in an uncompromising universe. Worse still, a stalking leopard
often leapt out suddenly from a high and secluded spot, devouring any random member
of our miserable ancestors.
From the very first scenes of the film, Kubrick has already
employed visual techniques to convey the helplessness of our ancestors in an
indifferent universe. Through a series of medium or long shots, our ancestors’
sizes were relatively small and engulfed by the natural environment they were
situated in. They became passive in their surroundings, because they have not
yet possessed any power to control or to invite advantages towards themselves. The
mise-en-scene was sparse, suggesting that they were fighting in a world that
almost amounted to nothing. Or, maybe they did not have any imaginations to
change their environment at this primitive stage. Through the stalking leopard
scene, Kubrick has also immortalized his unique approach to cinematic violence.
It is indeed surprising that one of the most prevalent themes in Kubrick’s
cinema since ‘Dr. Strangelove’ is his exploration of all forms of violence –
primitive and institutional, verbal and physical, domestic and global. His
unsentimental portrayal of violence serves as a nice contrast to the
suspenseful approaches by directors like Alfred Hitchcock or Sergio Leone, or
the dynamic and sentimentalized approach by Sam Peckinpah. Kubrick’s
unsentimental approach has certainly influenced directors like Paul Thomas
Anderson, as certain scenes in ‘There Will Be Blood’ are nice tributes to this unique
style.
More than living in a sustained wave of terror, the most
marked limitation of these primitive ape-men was their lack of sophisticated
cognitive abilities for which Homo sapiens is associated with. Our earliest
ancestors were just motivated and driven by urges and instincts, and a timeless
desire to live. They did not possess a rational structure that would aid them
to solve problems or to feel compassionate. As a result, they did not have any
past memories (suggesting they did not have a sense of time), and they did not
have a wonder or curiosity to explore the world around them.
Cyclical hell
Their existences were a tragic one. In a sense, they lived
their lives one day at a time, as their shallow mental capabilities did not
allow them to have any memories or concepts built into their cognitive
structures. The temporality of these primitive creatures was more akin to a
cyclic one. The start of a day was analogous to their births, the night
signified their deaths. The ultimate meaning of their existences was to survive
through the longest day, and when they went to sleep, they experienced a
symbolic and ritualistic death, only to be born again as a new existence the
next morning.
To this end, Kubrick has complemented by telling these
stories in an episodic structure. Through the use of a series of clear fade-in
/ fade-out pairing, he described the plot one incident at a time. This gave the
impression that all the incidents relating to our ancestors were detached,
because the cognitive abilities of our primitive ancestors were not able to
connect the dots for their experiences. Our ancestors had to live through, as
Nietzsche would have put it, a painful eternal recurrence of existence, and
they had no ability to find out if there was any meaning to exist at all.
Our ancestors had no identities, because they did not have a
personal story to tell. They could not show emotions, because they were not
capable to feel. When the leopard murdered one of the ape-men, all they could do
was to leash out some primal screams and instinctually dashed away, and would
soon forget about the whole incident and the loss of a companion. When the
night came, they retreated back to their hole, closed their eyes and ended
their merger existences.
Of all the ape-men in the tribe, one male member seemed to
stand out. His name was Moon-Watcher, the protagonist of the ‘Dawn of Man’
sequence. Unlike the other ape-men, he possessed a stronger cognitive ability
and he was the only one who has expressed wonder to the world around him. Moon-Watcher
was our ultimate ancestor - he was the precursor to what would then be known as
‘humanity’. When everyone was asleep at night, Moon-Watcher was the only one
who showed worry and sadness on his face. His higher cognitive ability has led
him to think about the meaning of his existence. Because his memory was slowly
developing throughout the section, he started to be afraid of the night, not
because of the darkness, but because it signified the arrival of ‘tomorrow’. Moon-Watcher
understood that every new day would be full of uncertainties for both himself
and his companions. For the very first time, an existential dread appeared on
Moon-Watcher’s facial expression, and one could easily feel that the evolutionary
pressure was already pushing on the ape-men. Interestingly, the name ‘Moon-Watcher’
also suggested something else. He was the only ape-man who often looked at the
moon with awe and wonder. This not only foreshadowed what humanity would
eventually do one day, it also served a symbolic meaning - the timeless truth
that at a certain point, a giant leap in development has to be carried out for
the species to enter a new paradigm, to cross a new frontier. Often in history,
it would require one individual to be able to think outside the box. While
having a similar appearance to most of his counterparts, Moon-Watcher seemed to
be the one who possessed the qualities or potential to save his tribe from the hostilities
of the primitive world. All that was need was an opportunity for him to prove
just that.
The water hole
A crisis soon emerged for Moon-Watcher’s tribe. When the
ape-men were drinking from a water resource, they encountered another clan of
ape-men, who also wanted the water hole for themselves. From our earliest days,
conflict already existed. It is not an aberration from the good nature of
humanity, it is the ultimate expression of our urges and desires. The two
parties started screaming and making loud noises at each other, attempting to
scare the rival party to retreat. A brutish member from the rival clan was
scary and loud enough to chase Moon-Watcher’s party away, and now our ancestors
were left with disappointment once again.
I feel that Kubrick is really poetic when he is staging this
incident, because he has used a circular water hole, rather than something
else, as the source of conflict. Water often symbolizes vitality, and its
fluidity symbolizes movement. Kubrick’s view illustrates that development or
progress embodies a penetration of space, the ability for us to move further
and to explore unknown frontiers. The water signifies a search for vitality,
the simple desire to persist and survive. The circle often symbolizes the
unity, and at the primitive stage the ape-men did not yet possess a unified
mind or identity – which was something they would soon acquire.
An interesting impression from this sequence was to the
group dynamics shown by the primitive ape-men. While the ape-men appeared to be
arguing as two distinct sides – they were standing and posing on the opposite
sides of the water hole, a concept of culture has not yet established in the
minds of these primitive ape-men. All the ape-men shouted and screamed out of
instinct, only to assert their presences and the right to the water-hole. In
the next encounter of the two parties, the nature of the conflict would become
very different.
You do not belong here...
The water hole incident was important in terms of theme of
the story, because here Kubrick was expressing the idea of Robert Ardrey’s ‘territorial
imperative’. Ardrey’s ideas have influenced Stanley Kubrick and Sam Peckinpah,
both my favorite directors, and one can discover that their assumptions
regarding the nature of humanity are very similar. For both directors, films
like ‘2001’, ‘The Wild Bunch’, ‘A Clockwork Orange’, and ‘Straw Dogs’ are all
based on or inspired by Ardrey’s insights. Indeed, looking closer at Kubrick’s
films since ‘2001’, the territorial ideas by Audrey are almost already present
in various forms, no matter it is a water-hole, a house, an aristocratic
status, a haunted hotel, an enemy nation, or a private ritual.
In Ardrey’s view, he suggested that there was an
evolutionally determined instinct for humans regarding territoriality from the
earliest days of our existences. So, it is not greedy or mean when one defends
aggressively for one’s properties – Ardrey’s theory states that the territorial
aggression is an in-born instinct, it is really part of us. Ardrey further
pointed out that, it was this instinct that distinguished pre-humans from other
lower primates, and very much contributed to humanity’s tremendous success in
the arena of evolution. Certainly, it is once again an anti-humanist stance,
labeling humans as some greedy beasts rather than some rational and loving
individuals. It seems to suggest that human nature is innately evil, and
somehow aggression is rationalized to be acceptable. Yet as Ardery, Kubrick,
and Peckinpah have clearly stated – if we do not even have the courage to face
the often awful truth, how will we have the ability to contribute to the
betterment of civilization?!
Ardrey’s brilliant ideas will be the focus of the next article,
but in short, the water hole incident represented the first ever territorial
conflict in Kubrick’s vision of humanity. The implication would be far more
than a struggle for some fluids to soothe the dry throats of the ape-men. The
crisis was a turning point for Moon-Watcher and his party. Something needed to
happen for all of them to jump out – and that would be way beyond their
imaginations.
(To be continued.)
by Ed Law
12/3/2017
Film Analysis
