2001, a space odyssey

2001, A SPACE ODYSSEY
A CNN UPDATE on 2001
1. Watch this extract from CNN's American Edition (January 1st 2001) and find the two missing
words in the following script.
ANCHORMAN (Ralph Wenge): Finally, Stanley Kubrick's movie 2001, A Space Odyssey, caught
the public imagination when it premiered thirty years ago. Well, the time is here and now! In the light of the
new year, David George sorts out the myth, the mystery and the message of the movie.
REPORTER (David George): It's not just about space. The real story of A Space Odyssey is the
odyssey, a journey of the mind.
INTERVIEWEE 1 (Jay Telotte, Film Historian): "My own sense is that here's a film that is about
human evolution, about human growth, and about human potential and it - it takes us on, err, a story of
evolution, and growth and - and unceasing growth!"
REPORTER (David George): Scholars say science fiction offers possibilities. It doesn't make
predictions. Neither does 2001.
INTERVIEWEE 2 (Bud Foot, Science Fiction Scholar): "By the year 2001, we're going to be yea1 far
out in space and it'll be so far developed! I don't think that's what the movie is about at all! I think it's that
going into space, then which there can be nothing more technological, is going to result in changes in us, the
way we see things."
REPORTER (David George): The space ship in 2001 is controlled by Hal, an inertly intelligent
……………………………… that can think and even talk.
MOVIE (Hal): "No Nine Thousand computer has ever made a mistake or destroyed information."
REPORTER (David George): Midway into the journey, Hal breaks down or runs amuck2- it's not
quite clear - and kills four of the five crew3 members.
INTERVIEWEE 2 (Bud Foot, Science Fiction Scholar): "I think that Hal… Now, on the one hand
you've got, you know, motels in the sky and all kinds of groovy4 stuff that our science and our technology
brings us. On the other hand, you know, there - there's a ………………………………. there!" […]
2. Now, say whether the following statements are true or false.
a. 2001, A Space Odyssey is a science fiction movie by Stanley Kubrick.
R TRUE
R FALSE
b. Stanley Kubrick's movie was shot thirty years ago.
R TRUE
R FALSE
c. The film is about going into space.
R TRUE
R FALSE
d. One of the main characters is a computer called Hal.
R TRUE
R FALSE
e. Hal is intelligent but dangerous.
R TRUE
R FALSE
EXECUTION: an extract from 2001
1. In the movie, who is talking most of the time?
2. What is the astronaut trying to do?
3. Therefore, who are the two characters in this scene?
1
yea: indeed (registre littéraire).
to run amuck: être pris d'une crise de folie meurtrière.
3
crew: équipage.
4
groovy: moderne (registre argotique).
2
2001, A Space Odyssey
EXECUTION: AN EXTRACT FROM 2001
Aboard Discovery, a spacecraft traveling in the vicinity of Jupiter, Hal, the computer controlling the
ship, has gone mad, deliberately killing all men aboard, and trying to abandon astronaut Dave Bowman in
outer space. But Dave has managed to stay alive and get back into the ship. Now intending to disconnect the
faulty machine, he has entered its central system…
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
The little chamber, with its neatly ranged rows and columns of solid-state logic units, looked rather
like a bank's safety deposit vault. (...)
This would be a very tricky operation; it was not merely a question of cutting off Hal's power supply,
which might have been the answer if he was dealing with a simple, non-self-conscious computer back on
Earth. Hal was the nervous system of the ship; without his supervision, Discovery would be a mechanical
corpse. The only answer was to cut out the higher centers of this sick but brilliant brain, and to leave the
purely automatic regulating Systems in operation. (...)
Here goes, thought Bowman. I never imagined I'd be an amateur brain surgeon carrying out a
lobotomy, beyond the orbit of Jupiter.
He released the locking bar on the section labeled COGNITIVE FEEDBACK and pushed out the first
memory block. The marvelously complex three-dimensional network, which could lie comfortably in a
man's hand yet contained millions of elements, floated away across the vault.
"Hey, Dave", said Hal. "What are you doing?"
I wonder if he can feel pain? Bowman thought briefly. Probably not, he told himself, there are no
sense organs in the human cortex, after all. The human brain can be operated on without anesthetics. He
began to pull out, one by one, the little units on the panel marked EGO-REINFORCEMENT. Each block
continued to sail onwards as soon as it had left his hand, until it hit the wall and rebounded. Soon there were
several of the units drifting slowly back and forth in the vault.
"Look here, Dave", said Hal. "I've got years of service experience built into me. An irreplaceable
amount of effort has gone into making me what I am."
A dozen units had been pulled out, yet thanks to the multiple redundancy of its design — another
feature, Bowman knew, that had been copied from the human brain — the computer was still holding its
own.
He started on the AUTO-INTELLECTION panel.
"Dave", said Hal, "I don't understand why you're doing this to me, ... I have the greatest enthusiasm
for the mission...You are destroying my mind... Don't you understand? ... I will become childish... I will
become nothing..."
This is harder than I expected, thought Bowman. I am destroying the only conscious creature in my
universe. But it has to be done, if I am ever to regain control of the ship.
"I am a Hal Nine Thousand computer. Production Number 3. I became operational at the Hal plant in
Urbana, Illinois on January 12, 1997. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The rain in Spain is
mainly in the plain.
Root of 10 is 3 point 162277660168379...? Log 10 to the base e is zero point 434294481903252...
correction, that is log e to the base 10... the reciprocal of three is zero point 333333333333333333333... two
times two is... two times two is... approximately 4 point 101010101010101010, ...I seem to be having some
difficulty... My first instructor was Dr. Chandra... he taught me to sing a song ... it goes like this... 'Daisy,
Daisy, give me your answer do. I'm half-crazy over my love of you...' "
The voice stopped so suddenly that Bowman froze for a moment, his hand still grasping one of the
memory blocks still in circuit. Then, unexpectedly, Hal spoke again.
The speech tempo was much slower, and the words had a dead, mechanical intonation; he would
never have recognized their origin.
"Good... morning... Doctor... Chandra... This... is... Hal... I... am... ready... for... my...first lesson...
today..."
Bowman could bear no more. He jerked out the last unit, and Hal was silent for ever.
Arthur Clarke and Stanley Kubrick, 2001, A Space Odyssey (1968)
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2001, A Space Odyssey
READ & ANALYSE
1. The movie shows that the scene takes place in zero gravity. Scan the text for evidence of this.
2. Examine the characters' names. The name of the computer is a series of letters: H, A, L. Find their
neighbors in the alphabet. What is the implicit idea here? What could the name Bowman mean? Look at
the Dictionary Section and find which meaning could be the most appropriate. What light do these details
bring to the story?
3. In the movie, because of the reflection of the light, Bowman looks rather like an Indian wearing war paint
on his face. Do you think this is accidental?
4. Why is it technically impossible to simply switch the computer off like a dishwasher?
5. The functions of the various units in the brain room can be analyzed from Hal's reactions while they are
being disconnected. Examine his reactions carefully, and try to deduce the roles of the "COGNITIVE
FEEDBACK", "EGO-REINFORCEMENT" and "AUTO-INTELLECTION" sections in Hal's brain.
6. Is it easy for Dave to perform this operation? Quote the text for clues as to what his feelings are.
7. What makes Hal's end particularly dramatic?
8. In this scene taken from the film the protagonist seems to be floating in amniotic fluid. What visual details
would support this interpretation? From a Freudian perspective, what could Dave be symbolically doing
here?
9. From the point of view of the survival of mankind, what is the symbolic value of Hal's destruction?
10. Hal is very much perceived as a human being. List all the details showing this.
11. Both Hal and David are aware of the fantastic intellectual power contained in the computer's brain. How
does this show? List all the words and expressions betraying Hal's pride and David's admiration.
DICTIONARY
¾
Bowman n. l. nautical. A person who oars, rows, or paddies at the bow of a boat. 2. An archer.
¾
David (c.1012-c. 972 BC), king of the ancient Hebrews, successor of Saul and one of the greatest of Hebrew national heroes.
An interesting and beautiful narrative in the Bible deals with the fight of David and Goliath. Goliath was a gigantic Philistine
who challenged (the Israelites. The young David accepted the challenge and killed him with a stone from a sling.
WRITING
Robotic rebellion is a recurrent theme of science fiction. Can you think of other books or films
developing the same idea? Tell your favorite story in the genre, then analyze its symbolic value.
ADJECTIVES
a.
¾
¾
¾
¾
"The marvelously complex three-dimensional network" (l. 11).
Quel est l'adjectif le plus subjectif? Pourquoi?
Quel est le plus définitoire, car le plus objectif?
Où est-il placé?
Qu'en déduisez-vous concernant l'ordre des adjectifs?
b. "A dead, mechanical intonation" (l. 40).
¾ Ces adjectifs correspondent-ils à la perception que l'énonciateur a de cette intonation ou des
caractéristiques objectives?
¾ Qu'est-ce qui sépare les deux adjectifs ici?
¾ Quel est celui que l'énonciateur considère comme le plus important?
¾ Où est-il placé ?
c. "A simple, non-self-conscious computer" (l. 4).
Quelles observations faites-vous à propos de cet autre exemple?
d. "With its neatly ranged rows and columns of solid-state logic units (l. 1).
¾ Sur quoi porte l'adverbe neatly?
¾ A quoi se rapporte ranged?
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2001, A Space Odyssey
La complémentation nominale : N1-N2; N1 of N2; N1's N2
a. "An amateur brain surgeon" (l. 8).
¾ A l'intérieur de cette expression, qu'est-ce qui fait unité de sens : amateur brain ou brain surgeon?
¾ Qu'apporte le nom amateur par rapport à brain surgeon ?
b. "The nervous system of the ship" (l. 5).
La construction N1 of N2 permet-elle d'apporter ici un complément d'information sur N1 ou une information sur
N2?
c. "Years of service experience" (l. 19).
"An irreplaceable amount of effort" (l. 19-20).
La même construction N1 of N2 permet-elle d'apporter ici une information sur N1 ou une information sur N2?
d. "A man's hand" (l. 11).
S'agit-il de la main d'un homme particulier ou d'une main d'homme (et non de femme ou d'enfant)?
En d'autres termes, ce génitif est-il spécifique ou générique?
TRANSLATION
Compare this extract from 2001, A Space Odyssey, with the translation made by a professional translator,
Michel Demuth, for the French version of Arthur Clarke's book (publisher: Robert Laffont). Pay particular
attention to underlined expressions.
A dozen units had been pulled out, yet thanks to the
multiple redundancy of its design — another feature,
Bowman knew, that had been copied from the human
brain - the computer was still holding its own.
Grâce à la dispersion de ses schémas l'ordinateur
conservait encore son intégralité de pensée. Il lui
manquait pourtant de nombreuses unités. En ceci
également il ressemblait au cerveau humain.
Selon vous, "had been copied from" est-il bien rendu par "il ressemblait au"?
He started on the AUTO-INTELLECTION panel. "Dave".
said Hal, "I don't understand why you're doing this to me,
... I have the greatest enthusiasm for the mission... You are
destroying my mind... Don't you understand? ... I will
become childish... I will become nothing..."
Bowman
s'attaqua
à
la
section
d'AUTOINTELLECTUALISATION. « Dave... Je ne comprends
pas pourquoi tu me fais cela. J'ai pour cette mission le plus
grand enthousiasme. Tu détruis mon esprit... Ne le
comprends-tu pas ? Je ne serai plus qu'un enfant... Je ne
serai... plus rien... »
Que pensez-vous de "je ne serai plus qu'un enfant" par rapport au texte initial? Est-ce le même sens?
C'est plus dur que je ne croyais, songea Bowman. Je tue la
This is harder than I expected, thought Bowman I am
destroying the only conscious creature in my universe. But seule autre personne consciente de mon univers. Il le faut.
it has to be done if I am ever to regain control of the ship. Il faut que je reprenne le contrôle du vaisseau.
Que pensez-vous de l'option "autre personne" plutôt que "créature"? Y a-t-il sur- ou soustraduction?
"I am a Hal Nine Thousand computer, Production « Je suis un ordinateur Carl 9000 de la série 3. Je suis
Number 3. I became operational at the Hal plant in entré en opération à l'usine CARL à Urbana, Illinois, le 12
janvier 1997. »
Urbana, Illinois on January 12. 1997."
Les trois lettres H, A, L, sont voisines de I, B, M dans l'alphabet. Que pensez-vous du choix du
traducteur?
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Hiboux... cailloux... choux... genoux…
Cette phrase anglaise sert à entraîner les apprentis-dactylos à utiliser toutes les touches du clavier.
Croyez-vous que le traducteur le savait? Quelle a été son intention?
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