Christopher Nolan: “We need to show 2001 to young children”

On May 15, 2018, in Cannes, the director of Interstellar presented Stanley Kubrick’s classic to the public. We share his words again, as we celebrate the 55th anniversary of this sci-fi masterpiece.

This summer, 2001 a space odyssey returned to the headlines quite unexpectedly, thanks to the hilarious intro scene of barbie, by Greta Gerwig. If we already knew that the cinema of Stanley Kubrick had strongly inspired his great competitor, Christopher Nolanwhich was just coming out Oppenheimer Faced with the blockbuster on the famous Mattel doll, no one expected to see the Monolith scene diverted in this way!

On this September 27, 2023, 2001 celebrates the 55th anniversary of its French release: in 1968, the film took a few months longer than in the United States to be released in France, since there, it had been at the top of the bill since April .

Back in May 2018, when the organizers of the 71st Cannes Film Festival wanted to celebrate the 50th anniversary of 2001: A Space Odyssey. In not only a screening of its restored version, but also several meeting events around the film. On May 18, precisely, Christopher Nolan, producers Katharina Kubrick and Jan Harlan, as well as actor Keir Dullea, came to talk about Stanley Kubrick’s classic. Then the director‘Interstellar hosted the special conference 2001 before the screening of the feature film in question in 70 mm version. A way of defending the experience of cinema in theaters, and shooting on film.

Cannes 2018: New trailer for 2001 A Space Odyssey ahead of its 70mm screening

First also celebrated this wonderful anniversary, by devoting two files to the film: one in the May 2018 issueand another, more important, in mook n°3where the editorial team returned in particular to the discovery of 2001 by several filmmakers: Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin Scorsese, David Fincher… and a certain Christopher Nolan. Who explained that according to him, it is also a film for children, to be discovered from 7 years old.

Extract : “We must show 2001 to young children. They are able to understand it at a basic, fundamental level. This is what happened to me. I saw it when I was seven years old and the film worked on me like pure cinematic spectacle. I was extremely baffled by the film, but also very excited. The film was released in the wake of Star Wars, we went to see it with a group of friends. We dreamed of ships, of space, of experiencing leaving Earth. When people wonder how old you have to be to enjoy this type of film, they ask themselves: ‘How can a seven year old child analyze the meaning of 2001 ?’ But it’s not a much easier film to analyze when you’re an adult! It’s the experience that counts.”

Jan Harlan: “The old people didn’t understand anything about 2001: A Space Odyssey”

Trailer for 2001: A Space Odyssey :

During the promotion ofInterstellar, At the end of 2014, Nolan also returned to the influence of Kubrick on his cinema: even if he found “mad” that we can compare his work to that of the director of Full Metal Jacket, he explained : “You can’t make a sci-fi film while pretending that 2001 does not exist. We can do our best to offer something new, something different, but it is better to recognize this influence, honor it and be faithful to it rather than hiding the reference and pretending not to see it.”

Christopher Nolan: “It would be crazy to compare me to Kubrick!”