8. HAL plots and schemes. And Earthman finally twigs: "I've got a bad feeling..." says Bowman's buddy Poole in the pod, making the film's first reference to feelings. Facing the ultimate, mortal conflict -- although only dimly aware of what's coming -- Earthman regains that old ape intuition.
9. HAL almost succeeds, but Bowman (get it? -- man is culturally so far behind his own evolution he's stuck with a name from the 12th century) outsmarts the machine with his ingenuity, imagination and courage. And he kills HAL using the simplest of all tools, the screwdriver. That's what tools are for, HAL!
10. Man makes his appointment.
11. The room in the 4th dimension is a 'colour negative'. |
12. At his last supper, Earthman tips over his glass. The glass breaks -- but the wine is still there. Hey...container/content, body/spirit... Ah!
13. Earthman is dying. Enter the monolith. Have you got it yet, Earthman? As an ape, you touched me with a child's fear and courage. On the moon, you touched me with your cold logic. And now?
14. With his rasping, dying breath, Earthman reaches out to the monolith, at last, with deep understanding and wisdom. The body -- container of his spirit for a million years, but like fish out of water in space -- is cast aside forever. He's ready for the next evolutionary leap -- and the Starchild is born.
|
|
