Allegory in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey
David (Keir Dullea) transcends his reality. (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): cinematic, immaculately scored, timeless, symbolic, evocative, visceral.
In its exploration of truth this film strips away what we notionally think matters, taking us on a journey along with David Bowman (pictured) to the abyss of reality. It cuts directly through logical comprehension to hit us emotionally hard.
David’s life is stripped away before his eyes and re-fabricated, while our minds are reassembled in the process.
Stripped bare of everything he believes, at the end of this journey David finds the greatest purpose of all: his own.