2001: A Space Odyssey
Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick
Arthur
C. Clark
Produced by Stanley Kubrick
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Cast List:
Keir Dullea David Bowman
Gary Lockwood Frank Poole
William Sylvester Dr. Heywood Floyd
Daniel Richter Moonwatcher
Leonard Rossiter Smyslov
Margaret Tyzack Elena
Robert Beatty Halvorsen
Sean Sullivan Michaels
Frank Miller Mission
Controller
Alan Gifford Poole's
Father
Douglas Rain Voice of HAL
TITLE CARD:
"PART I
AFRICA
3,000,000 YEARS AGO"
VIEWS OF AFRICAN DRYLANDS – DROUGHT
The remorseless drought had lasted now for ten million
years, and would not end for another million. The reign of the terrible lizards
had long since passed, but here on the continent which would one day be known
as Africa, the battle for survival had reached a new climax of ferocity, and
the victor was not yet in sight. In this dry and barren land, only the small or
the swift or the fierce could flourish, or even hope to exist.
INT. / EXT. CAVES – MOONWATCHER
The man-apes of the field had none of these
attributes, and they were on the long, pathetic road to racial extinction.
About twenty of them occupied a group of caves overlooking a small, parched
valley, divided by a sluggish, brown stream.
The tribe had always been hungry, and now it was
starving. As the first dim glow of dawn creeps into the cave, Moonwatcher
discovers that his father has died during the night. He did not know the Old
One was his father, for such a relationship was beyond his understanding. but
as he stands looking down at the emaciated body he feels something, something
akin to sadness. Then he carries his dead father out of the cave, and leaves
him for the hyenas.
Among his kind, Moonwatcher is almost a giant. He is
nearly five feet high, and though badly undernourished, weighs over a hundred
pounds. His hairy, muscular body is quite man-like, and his head is already
nearer man than ape. The forehead is low, and there are great ridges over the
eye-sockets, yet he unmistakably holds in his genes the promise of humanity. As
he looks out now upon the hostile world, there is already something in his gaze
beyond the grasp of any ape. In those dark, deep-set eyes is a dawning
awareness-the first intimations of an intelligence which would not fulfill
itself for another two million years.
EXT. THE STREAM – THE OTHERS
As the dawn sky brightens, Moonwatcher and his tribe
reach the shallow stream.
The Others are already there. They were there on the
other side every day – that did not make it any less annoying.
There are eighteen of them, and it is impossible to
distinguish them from the members of Moonwatcher's own tribe. As they see him
coming, the Others begin to angrily dance and shriek on their side of the
stream, and his own people reply In kind.
The confrontation lasts a few minutes – then the
display dies out as quickly as it has begun, and everyone drinks his fill of
the muddy water. Honor has been satisfied – each group has staked its claim to
its own territory.
EXT. AFRICAN PLAIN – HERBIVORES
Moonwatcher and his companions search for berries,
fruit and leaves, and fight off pangs of hunger, while all around them,
competing with them for the same fodder, is a potential source of more food
than they could ever hope to eat. Yet all the thousands of tons of meat roaming
over the parched savanna and through the brush is not only beyond their reach;
the idea of eating it is beyond their imagination. They are slowly starving to
death in the midst of plenty.
EXT. PARCHED COUNTRYSIDE – THE LION
The tribe slowly wanders across the bare, flat
countryside foraging for roots and occasional berries.
Eight of them are irregularly strung out on the open
plain, about fifty feet apart.
The ground is flat for miles around.
Suddenly, Moonwatcher becomes aware of a lion,
stalking them about 300 yards away.
Defenseless and with nowhere to hide, they scatter in
all directions, but the lion brings one to the ground.
EXT. DEAD TREE – FINDS HONEY
It had not been a good day, though as Moonwatcher had
no real remembrance of the past he could not compare one day with another. But
on the way back to the caves he finds a hive of bees in the stump of a dead
tree, and so enjoys the finest delicacy his people could ever know. Of course,
he also collects a good many stings, but he scarcely notices them. He is now as
near to contentment as he is ever likely to be; for thought he is still hungry,
he is not actually weak with hunger. That was the most that any hominid could
hope for.
INT. / EXT. CAVES – NIGHT TERRORS
Over the valley, a full moon rises, and a cold wind
blows down from the distant mountains. It would be very cold tonight – but
cold, like hunger, was not a matter for any real concern; it was merely part of
the background of life.
This Little Sun, that only shone at night and gave no
warmth, was dangerous; there would be enemies abroad. Moonwatcher crawls out of
the cave, clambers on to a large boulder besides the entrance, and squats there
where he can survey the valley. If any hunting beast approached, he would have
time to get back to the relative safety of the cave.
Of all the creatures who had ever lived on Earth,
Moonwatcher's race was the first to raise their eyes with interest to the Moon,
and though he could not remember it, when he was young, Moonwatcher would reach
out and try to touch its ghostly face. Now he new he would have to find a tree
that was high enough.
He stirs when shrieks and screams echo up the slope
from one of the lower caves, and he does not need to hear the occasional growl
of the lion to know what is happening. Down there in the darkness, old One-Eye
and his family are dying, and the thought that he might help in some way never
crosses Moonwatcher's mind. The harsh logic of survival rules out such fancies.
Every cave is silent, lest it attract disaster.
And in the caves, in tortured spells of fitful dozing
and fearful waiting, were gathered the nightmares of generations
yet to come.
EXT. THE STREAM – INVASION
The Others are growing desperate; the forage on their
side of the valley is almost exhausted. Perhaps they realise that Moonwatcher's
tribe has lost three of its numbers during the night, for they choose this
mourning to break the truce. When they meet at the river in the still, misty
dawn, there is a deeper and more menacing note in their challenge. The noisy
but usually harmless confrontation lasts only a few seconds before the invasion
begins.
In an uncertainly-moving horde, the Others cross the
river, shrieking threats and hunched for the attack. They are led by a
big-toothed hominid of Moonwatcher's own size and age.
Startled and frightened, the tribe retreats before the
first advance, throwing nothing more substantial than imprecations at the
invaders. Moonwatcher moves with them, his mind a mist of rage and confusion.
To be driven from their own territory is a great badness, but to lose the river
is death. He does not know what to do; it is a situation beyond his experience.
Then he becomes dimly aware that the Others are
slowing down, and advancing with obvious reluctance. The further they move from
their own side, the more uncertain and unhappy they become. Only Big-Tooth
still retains any of his original drive, and he is rapidly being seperated from
his followers.
As he sees this, Moonwatcher's own morale immediately
revives. He slows down his retreat, and begins to make reassuring noises to his
companions. Novel sensations fill his dim mind – the first faint precursors of
bravery and leadership.
Before he realizes it, he is face to face with
Big-Tooth, and the two tribes come to a halt many paces away.
The disorganized and unscientific conflict could have
ended quickly if either had used his fist as a club, but this innovation still
lay hundreds of thousands of years in the future. Instead, the slowly weakening
fighters claw and scratch and try to bite each other.
Rolling over and over, they come to a patch of stony
ground, and when they reach it Moonwatcher is on top. By chance, he chooses
this moment to grab the hair on Big-Tooth's scalp, and bang his head on the
ground. The resulting CRACK is so satisfactory, and produces such an immediate weakening in
Big-Tooth's resistance, that he quickly repeats it.
Even when Big-Tooth ceases to move for some time,
Moonwatcher keeps up the exhilirating game.
With shrieks of panic, the Others retreat back, across
the stream. The defenders cautiously pursue them as far as the water's edge.
EXT. CAVE – NEW SOUND
Dozing fitfully and weakened by his struggle,
Moonwatcher is startled by a sound.
He sits up in the fetid darkness of the cave,
straining his senses out into the night, and fear creeps slowly into his soul.
Never in his life – already twice as long as most members of his species could
expect – has he heard a sound like this. The great cats approached in silence,
and the only thing that betrayed them was a rare slide of earth, or the
occasional cracking of a twig. Yet this is a continuing crunching noise that
grows steadily louder. It seemed that some enormous beast was moving through
the night, making no attempt at concealment, and ignoring all obstacles.
And then there came a sound which Moonwatcher could
not possibly have identified, for it had never been heard before in the history
of this planet.
EXT. CAVE – NEW ROCK
Moonwatcher comes face to face with the New Rock when
he leads the tribe down to the river in the first light of morning. He had
almost forgotten the terror of the night, because nothing had happened after
that initial noise, so he does not even associate this strange thing with
danger or with fear. There is nothing in the least alarming about it.
It is a cube about fifteen feet on a side, and it is
made of some completely transparent material; indeed, it is not easy to see
except when the light of the sun glints on its edges. There are no natural
objects to which Moonwatcher can compare this apparition. Though he is wisely
cautious of most new things, he does not hesitate to walk up to it. As nothing
happens, he puts out his hand, and feels a warm, hard surface.
After several minutes of intense thought, he arrives
at a brilliant explanation. It is a rock, of course, and it must have grown
during the night. There are many plants that do this – white, pulpy things
shaped like pebbles, that seem to shoot up in the hours of darkness. It is true
that they are small and round, whereas this is large and square; but greater
and later philosophers than Moonwatcher would be prepared to overlook equally
striking exceptions to their laws.
This really superb piece of abstract thinking leads
Moonwatcher to a deduction which he immediately puts to the test. The white,
round pebble-plants are very tasty (though there were a few that made one
violently sick); perhaps this square one...?
A few licks and attempted nibbles quickly disillusion
him. There is no nourishment here; so like a sensible hominid, he continues on
his way to the river and forgets all about the Cube.
EXT. CUBE – FIRST LESSON
They are still a hundred yards from the New Rock when
the sound begins.
It is quite soft, and it stops them in their tracks,
so that they stand paralyzed on the trail with their jaws hanging. A simple,
maddeningly repetitious rhythm pulses out of the crystal cube and hypnotises
all who come within its spell. For the first time – and the last, for two
million year – the sound of drumming is heard in Africa.
The throbbing grows louder, more insistent. Presently
the hominids begin to move forward like sleep-walkers, towards the source of
that magnetic sound. Sometimes they take little dancing steps, as their blood
responds to the rhythms that their descendants will not create for ages yet.
Totally entranced, they gather around the Cube,
forgetting the hardships of the day, the perils of the approaching dusk, and
the hunger in their bellies.
Now, spinning wheels of light begin to merge, and the
spokes fuse into luminous bars that slowly recede into the distance, rotating
on their axes as they do; and the hominids watch, wideeyed, mesmerized captives
of the Crystal Cube.
Then by some magic – though it was no more magical
than all that had gone on before – a perfectly normal scene appears. It is as
if a cubical block had been carved out of the day and shifted into the night.
Inside that block is a group of four hominids, who might have been members of
Moonwatcher's own tribe, eating chunks of meat. The carcass of a wart-hog lies
near them.
This little family of male and female and two children
is gorged and replete, with sleek and glossy pelts – and this was a condition
of life that Moonwatcher had never imagined. From time to time they stir
lazily, as they loll at ease near the entrance of their cave, apparently at
peace with the world. The spectacle of domestic bliss merges into a totally
different scene.
The family is no longer reposing peacefully outside
its cave; it is foraging, searching for food like any normal hominids.
A small wart-hog ambles past the group of browsing
humanoids without giving them more than a glance, for they had never been the
slightest danger to its species.
But that happy state of affairs is about to end. The
big male suddenly bends down, picks up a heavy stone lying at his feet – and
hurls it upon the unfortunate pig. The stone descends upon its skull, making
exactly the same noise that Moonwatcher had produced in his now almost
forgotten encounter with Big-Tooth. And the result, too, is much the same – the
warthog gives one amazed, indignant squeal, and collapses in a motionless heap.
Then the whole sequence begins again, but this time it
unfolds itself with incredible slowness. Every detail of the movement can be
followed; the stone arches leisurely through the air, the pig crumples up and
sinks to the ground. There the scene freezes for long moments, the slayer
standing motionless above the slain, the first of all weapons in his hand.
The scene suddenly fades out. The cube is no more than
a glimmering outline in the darkness; the hominids stir, as if awakening from a
dream, realise where they are, and scuttle back to their caves.
They have no conscious memory of what they had seen;
but that night, as he sits brooding at the entrance of his lair, his ears
attuned to the noises of the world around him, Moonwatcher feels the first
faint. twinges of a new and potent emotion – the urge to kill. He had taken his
first step towards humanity.
EXT. CAVE AND PLAINS – UTOPIA
Babies were born and sometimes lived; feeble,
toothless thirty-year-olds died; the lion took its toll in the night; the
Others threatened daily across the river – and the tribe prospered. In the
course of a single year, Moonwatcher and his companions had changed almost
beyond recognition.
They had become as plump as the family in the Cave,
who no longer haunted their dreams. They had learned their lessons well; now
they could handle all the stone tools and weapons that the Cube had revealed to
them.
They were no longer half-numbed with starvation, and
they had time both for leisure and for the first rudiments of thought. Their
new way of life was casually accepted, and they did not associate it in any way
with the crystal cube still standing outside their cave.
But no Utopia is perfect, and this one had two
blemishes. The first was the marauding lion, whose passion for hominids seemed
to have grown even stronger now that they were better nourished. The second was
the tribe across the river; for somehow the Others had survived, and had
stubbornly refused to die of starvation.
EXT. CAVES – KILLING THE LION
With the partly devoured carcass of a warthog laid out
on the ground at the point. he hope the boulder would impact, Moonwatcher and
three of his bravest companions wait for two consecutive nights. On the third
the lion comes, betraying his presences by a small pebble slide.
When they can here the lion below, softly tearing at
the meat, they strain themselves against the massive boulder. The sound of the
lion stops; he is listening. Again they silently heave against the enormous
stone, exerting the final limits of their strength. The rock begin to tip to a
new balance point..
The lion twitches alert to this sound, but having no
fear of these creatures, he makes the first of two mistakes which will cost him
his life; he goes back to his meal.
The rock moves slowly over the ledge, picking up speed
with amazing suddenness. It strikes a projection in the cliff about fifteen
feet above the ground, which deflects its path outward.
Just at this instant, the lion reacts instinctively
and leaps away from the face of the cliff directly into the path of the
onrushing boulder. He has combined the errors of
overconfidence and bad luck.
The next morning they find the lion in front of the
cave. They also find one of their tribe who had incautiously peeped out to see
what was happening, and was apparently killed by a small rock torn loose by the
boulder; but this was a small price to pay for such a great victory.
And then one night the crystal cube was gone, and not
even Moonwatcher ever thought of it again. He was still wholly unaware of all
that it had done.
EXT. STREAM – MASTER OF THE WORLD
From their side of the stream, in the never violated
safety of their own territory, the Others see Moonwatcher and fourteen males of
his tribe appear from behind a small hillock over-looking the stream,
silhouetted against the dawn sky.
The Others begin to scream their daily challenge. But
today something is different, though the Others do not immediately recognise
this fact.
Instead of joining the verbal onslaught, as they had
always done, Moonwatcher and his small band descended from the rise, and begin
to move forward to the stream with a quiet purposefulness never before seen.
As the Others watch the figures silently approaching
in the morning mist, they become aware of the terrible strangeness of this
encounter, and their rage gradually subsides down to an uneasy silence.
At the water's edge, Moonwatcher and his band stop.
They carry their bone clubs and bone knives. Led by One-ear, the Others
half-heartly resume the battle- chant. But they are suddenly confrunted with a
vision that cuts the sound from their throats, and strikes terror into their
hearts.
Moonwatcher, who had been partly concealed by two
males who walked before him, thrusts his arm high into the air. In his hand he
holds a stoud tree branch. Mounted atop the branch is the bloody head of the
lion, its mouth jammed open with a stick, displaying its frightful fangs.
The Others gape in fearful disbelief at this display
of power.
Moonwatchers stands motionless, thrusting the lion's
head high. Then with majestic deliberation, still carrying his mangled standard
above his head, he begins to cross the stream, followed by his band.
The Others fade back from the stream, seeming to lack
even the ability to flee.
Moonwatcher steps ashore and walks to One-Ear, who
stands unsurely in front of his band.
Though he is a veteran of numerous combats at the
water's edge, One-Ear has never been attacked by an enemy who had not first
displayed his fighting rage; and he had never before been attacked with a
weapon. One-Ear, merely looks up at the raised club until the heavy thigh bone
of an antelope brings the darkness down around him.
The Others stare in wonder at Moonwatcher's power.
Moonwatcher surveys the scene. Now he was master of
the world, and he was not sure what to do next... But he would think of
something.
TITLE CARD:
"PART II
YEAR 2001"
EARTH FROM 200 MILES UP
NARRATOR
By the year 2001, overpopulation has replaced the
problem of starvation, but this was ominously offset by the absolute and utter
perfection of the weapon. Hundreds
of giant bombs had been placed in perpetual orbit above the Earth. They were
capable of incinerating the entire Earth's surface from an altitude of 100
miles.
FRENCH BOMB NARRATOR
Matters were further complicated by the presence of
twenty-seven nations in the nuclear club. There had been no deliberate or
accidental use of nuclear weapons since World War II and some people felt
secure in this knowledge. But to others, the situation seemed comparable to an
airline with a perfect safety record; in showed admirable care and skill but no
one expected it to last forever.
ORION-III SPACECRAFT IN FIGHT AWAY FROM EARTH, 200
MILES ALTITUDE
ORION-III PASSENGER AREA
Dr. Heywood Floyd is the only passenger in the elegant
cabin designed for 30 people. He is asleep.
His pen floats near his hand.
ORION-III COCKPIT
Pilot, Co-Pilot and Floyd can be seen asleep on a
small TV monitor.
Stewardess is putting on lipstick. She sees pen.
Stewardess goes back to passenger area, rescues pen
and clips it back in Floyd's pocket.
SPACE STATION-5
The raw sunlight of space dazzles from the polished
metal surfaces of the slowly revolving, thousand-foot diameter space station.
Drifting in the same orbit, we see swept-back titov-v spacecraft. Also the
almost spherical aries-ib
ORION-III PASSENGER AREA
Floyd awake but groggy, looks out of window.
ORION-III COCKPIT
The Co-Pilot in radio communication with the space
station.
THE ORION-III SPACECRAFT IN DOCKING APPROACH
The Earth is seen in breath-taking view in background.
INSIDE DOCKING CONTROL
We see Orion-III manoeuvring in background.
From docking port we see the Orion-III inching in to
complete its docking. We see various windowed booths inside docking port. We
see the Pilot and Co-Pilot inside the Orion-III cockpit.
SPACE STATION RECEPTION AREA
Receptionist at desk. Miller enters, hurrying. he goes
to the elevator and presses button. He waits impatiently.
We see elevator indicator working
Elevator door opens and Floyd is seen unstrapping
himself.
The Elevator Girl is seated by the door.
MILLER
Oh, good morning, Dr. Floyd. I'm Nick Miller.
FLOYD
How do you do, Mr. Miller?
MILLER
I'm terribly sorry. I was just on my way down to meet
you. I saw your ship dock and I knew I had plenty of time, and I was on my way
out of the office when, suddenly, the phone rang.
FLOYD
Oh, please don't worry about it.
MILLER
Well, thank you very much for being so understanding.
FLOYD
Please, it really doesn't matter.
MILLER
Well... Did you have a pleasant flight?
FLOYD
Yes, very pleasant.
MILLER
Well, shall we go through Documentation?
FLOYD
Fine.
RECEPTIONIST
Will you use number eight, please?
MILLER
Thank you, Miss Turner.
They enter the passport area.
Receptionist presses "ENGLISH" bar on her
console and smiles as Floyd goes through.
The automated passport section. They stop in front of
a booth featuring a TV screen.
PASSPORT GIRL (TV)
Good morning and welcome to Voice Print
Identification. When you see the red light go on would you please state in the
following order; your destination, your nationality and your full name. Surname
first, Christian name and initial. For example: Moon, American, Smith, John, D.
Thank you.
There is a pause and a red bar lights up.
FLOYD
Moon, American, Floyd, Heywood, R.
The red light goes off. there is a delay of about two
seconds and the woman's face reappears.
FLOYD
I've always wondered...
PASSPORT GIRL (TV)
(interrupting)
Thank you. Despite and excellent and continually
improving safety record there are certain risks inherent in space travel and
an. Extremely high cost of pay load. Because of this it is necessary for the
Space Carrier to advise you that it cannot be responsible for the return of
your body to Earth should you become deceased on the Moon or en route to the
Moon. However, it wishes to advise you that insurance covering this contingency
is available in the Main Lounge. Thank you. You are cleared through Voice Print
Identification.
The lights go off and the woman's face disappears.
The men exit the passport area.
MILLER
I've reserved a table for you in the Earth Light room.
Your connecting flight will be leaving in about one hour.
FLOYD
Oh, that's wonderful.
INT. SPACE STATION – LOUNGE
Floyd and Miller walking.
MILLER
Let's see, we haven't had the pleasure of a visit from
you not since... It was about eight or nine months ago, wasn't it?
FLOYD
Yes, I think so. Just about then.
MILLER
I suppose you saw the work on our new section while
you were docking.
FLOYD
Yes, it's coming along very well.
They pass the Vision Phone booth.
FLOYD
Oh, look, I've got to make a phone call. Why don't you
go on into the Restaurant and I'll meet you in there.
MILLER
Fine. I'll see you at the bar.
Floyd enter phone booth.
Sign on Vision Phone screen: "SORRY, TEMPORARILY
OUT OF ORDER."
He enters the second booth and sits down.
FLOYD IN VISION PHONE
Little Girl of five answers.
CHILD
Hello.
A few seconds later, the screen changes to an image of the