When Stanley Kubrick wrote to Arthur C. Clarke asking him to collaborate on a project, the result was quite simply a film considered one of the greatest and most influential ever made…
On March 31, 1964, famous filmmaker Stanley Kubrick made contact with science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, through a letter, in which Kubrick spoke of his desire to collaborate with him to produce, according to his words, “the proverbial ‘very good’ science fiction film”: the rest, you know it, it is part of History.
Read the letter in question below:
“March 31, 1964
Dear Mr. Clarke:
It’s a very interesting coincidence that our mutual friend Caras mentioned you during a conversation we were having about a Questar telescope. I’ve been a big admirer of your books for some time and have always wanted to discuss with you the possibility of making the proverbial ‘really good’ science fiction film.
My main interest lies in these big areas, naturally assuming a big plot and big characters:
1. Reasons to believe in the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life.
2. The impact (and perhaps even the absence of impact in certain circles) that such a discovery would have on Earth in the near future.
3. A space probe with landing and exploration of the Moon and Mars.
Roger tells me that you plan to come to New York this summer. Do you have an inflexible schedule? If not, would you consider coming early for a meeting to determine whether an idea might exist or emerge that would interest us both enough to want to collaborate on a scenario?
In the event of this most pleasant event, I am reasonably certain that an additional agreement regarding your services could then be reached with your agent.”
The collaboration of the century
According to the Letters of Note website, Arthur C. Clarke was immediately enthusiastic about the idea, so much so that three weeks later, on April 22, the two men met at the Plaza Hotel in New York and, according to Clarke, “talked for a good eight hours about science fiction”. Four years later, the groundbreaking result of their partnership, 2001: A Space Odyssey was released, an epic film about space travel, human evolution and extraterrestrial life spanning time and space. space – and which is considered a reference in the world of cinema and science fiction.
Produced and directed by Stanley Kubrickand co-written by the latter and Arthur C. Clarke therefore, the film is inspired by the latter’s 1951 short story, The Sentinel, but also other of his works. At the same time as he wrote the screenplay, Clarke also wrote a novelized version of the film, which will be published after the latter’s release.
The film starring Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester and Douglas Rain, features a journey of astronauts, scientists and the sentient supercomputer HAL to Jupiter to investigate an alien monolith. The feature film is known, among other things, for its scientifically accurate depiction of space travel and its innovative special effects – for which it won an Academy Award, in addition to being nominated for three other golden statuettes.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Stanley Kubrick on the set of “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968)
2001: A Space Odyssey is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. In 1991, it was selected by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Arthur C. Clarke, the visionary
A true genius and visionary, Arthur Charles Clarke is also known for having anticipated, in his novels, the Internet and artificial intelligence and in particular, in 2001: A Space Odysseywith HAL 9000, the on-board computer capable of understanding language, interpreting emotions, reasoning, learning and designing.
In an interview taking place in 1976, he even predicted the arrival of the World Wide Web by the year 2000, as well as that of the cell phone – in addition to having “imagined” our current use of computers with the Internet. That says a lot about the man in question…
2001: A Space Odyssey can be seen again and again on VOD.
