2001: A Space Odyssey

Stanley Kubrick’s Space Odyssey(1968)

Announced in our previous post on FCE set books, this post is entirely dedicated to 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is a mixture of suggestions about sites that can help you interpret the book and a bit of memorabilia. This film directed by Stanley Kubrick has become an icon or even a cult movie.

The Film

Have you seen it? Why, then. Watch it!

Full version:
http://www.spiteyourface.com/one/film.html

Or a 2 minute and 01 second version:

-Not in the mood now for stopping reading to watch?
-I see.
The following links are published under my SPOILER WARNING! (What’s this?)

You probably landed on this post looking for inspiration for a movie review or composition. Basics to prepare your set book writing task. Try these:

Film Summary Notes and analysis

Check here for interpretations and allegorical meanings of the film.
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Now, here is something not to be missed (it’s much shorter than the film)

It is an interpretation of Kubrick’s film. There are different language options in the site, however, I trust you will practice your English! (Make sure you have Flash 6 installed in your computer.) Turn off the lights, turn on your loudspeakers and press the F11 key before you click.

Ready? Enjoy this fantastic animation.

http://www.kubrick2001.com/

20 minutes later...

Wow. Isn’t it just superb?

Comments are welcome.

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Film Reviews

What’s the point in reading reviews? Film reviews are flooded with vocabulary. Some words are only to be learnt for recognition –you might sound rather pompous if you say those long words. Yet, it can give you hints as to words different from "very" or "good" or "excellent" and the most feared "nice" to jazz up your writings.

Some examples:

• BBC site
  
• Time Out magazine(Watch out fans! This review is not completely positive)
  
• The film or the book?
  
• Here is a blogger reviewing the film
  

Memorabilia

Now a bit for the funs. Film lovers will enjoy the pics, the original cinema program
or The Zero Gravity Toilet: Instructions for passengers.

Among the list of cultural references in Wikipedia, I found this episode of The Simpsons, Deep Spacer Homer, dedicated to the film.

Musical Echoes

David Bowie’s song Space Oddity was written a year after the film. You can find the lyrics here. Three years after the film, Pink Floyd released Echoes.

Here you'll find about the backstage and anecdotes. Kubrick was indeed careful about the accent of the film characters (from the Internet Movie Database).

These links listed under Memorabilia are sites I may use in my own lessons. Haven’t thought out exactly how I am going to use them. I know there are inspired teachers hovering this blog, so if you come up with ideas for a lesson plan, leave us a comment or a link to your own blog. Any suggestions will be welcome with a broad smile.