Listen to Stanley Kubrick explain the ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey, if you dare
Few artists are interested in articulating the meanings of their works. To paraphrase David Lynch, many ideas manifest onscreen because they couldn’t be articulated in words. Still, that hasn’t stopped the masses from hounding the likes of Lynch for clear-cut explanations, an experience to which enigmatic filmmaker Stanley Kubrick was also routinely subjected. What’s different in the above clip, which has recently been making the rounds on Reddit, is that Kubrick actually provides a fairly straightforward answer when asked to unpack the ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey, which features one of the most striking, thought-provoking climaxes in film.
First, a little background about the interview. Filmed during post-production on Kubrick’s The Shining, the footage is thought to be part of a Japanese paranormal documentary hosted by Jun’ichi Yaio, a TV personality who, it’s been said, is credited with popularizing the concept of UFOs in Japan. He was intrigued by the The Shining due to reports of paranormal activity on the set.
The documentary never aired, but the footage came from original production master VHS tapes in the personal collection of Wendelle C. Stevens, a ufologist who was reportedly part of the production. iO9 reports that a VHS of the raw footage was sold on eBay in 2016, which is how it ended up online (just in time for its 50th anniversary).
Yaio was granted a phone interview with Kubrick for the documentary, during which he asked a number of hilarious questions, including whether or not Kubrick had any supernatural powers of his own. In discussing UFOs (Kubrick says their existence is “almost impossible to believe, and yet at the same time some of the sightings are so extraordinary”), Yaio asks him to explain the ending of 2001.