Author wrote bestselling bfi Publishing title David Lynch ''a joy to the reader of film criticism'' Choice; 2001: A Space Odyssey to be re-released in cinemas in The Spring and highly likely to be the focus of much media attention in the new year; Stanley Kubrick''s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), based on Arthur C Clarke''s novel, is one of the most ambitious films ever made, an epic of space exploration that takes in the whole history of humanity (as well as speculation about its future). A technical triumph that stands up today 2001 is topical also because of its meditation on the relationship between man, animal and machine. Haunting and enigmatic, it''s a film that contains myriad images that seem to defy any explanation. In this multilayered study, acclaimed critic and theorist of film sound Michel Chion offers some keys to understanding 2001. Setting the film first in its historical and cultural contexts (the Space Race, the Cold War, 1960s psychedelia), Chion goes on to locate it
