The one aspect of ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ that Stanley Kubrick was dissatisfied with
After Stanley Kubrick released a string of successful movies in the 1960s, he found himself in a strong position to take a risk and create something absolutely extravagant. The result was the sci-fi epic 2001: A Space Odyssey, released just a year before humans stepped foot on the moon.
Kubrick’s film came at the perfect time, given that the space race was in full force. However, the director wasn’t as optimistic about space travel as the rest of America, warning of the dangers of rapid technological development through the character of HAL, an AI computer that gains sentience. HAL doesn’t have his astronauts in his best interest, and the journey soon heads towards chaos and confusion.
2001: A Space Odyssey is, without a doubt, one of Kubrick’s finest works, exploring human nature and evolution while commenting on the development of technology and our relationship to it. While the ‘60s gave way to intense progression, Kubrick’s movie speaks to an era of simultaneous innovation and concern about what these new developments might bring.
Kubrick’s project required extensive help to ensure that the set design and costumes looked as realistic as possible. However, a good movie needs to be advertised correctly so that people will flock to see it, and Kubrick wasn’t going to settle with any old poster and logo. He employed the celebrated Saul Bass for the job, known for creating posters and title cards for works by Alfred Hitchcock, such as Vertigo.
However, Bass just couldn’t meet the perfectionist Kubrick’s specific goals, leading the two to exchange rather tense messages. Kubrick’s dissatisfaction with Bass’ creations is reflected in messages such as, “I think ‘Space Odyssey’ must have more weight than our last sketch of the Ben Hur letters. I want people to know it’s about space and not think it’s a sociological study of 2001.”
A few months later, Kubrick wasn’t any more impressed, writing to Bass to highlight that his new design “Is exactly the original ad you did with words ‘Space Odyssey’ done by MGM . . . I would appreciate you trying what I ask rather than rigidly defending what has been done and closing your mind.” He even called the colour treatment “terrible,” adding, “Sorry to be so blunt about this, but I expected much more.”
Thus, it appears that Bass’ work was disregarded completely, even though Bass had tried “hundreds of drawings done in effort to find solution satisfactory to you including trying many things that didn’t quite make sense to me”.
The promotional posters made for 2001: A Space Odyssey ended up being designed by Robert McCall, who worked as an artist for NASA. Kubrick and Bass worked together again on The Shining, and Bass highly praised Space Odyssey upon its release, despite the fraught creative relationship the pair seemed to have while the film was in development.
