2001: A Space Odyssey
- G
- Year:
- 1968
- 149 min
- $135,620
- 1,799 Views
TITLE PART I:
AFRICA:
3,000,000 YEARS AGO
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A1
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 ter-
rible 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.
10/13/65 a1
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A2
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 emac-
iated 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
10/13/65 a2
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A2
CONTINUED:
something in his gaze beyond the grasp of any ape. In those
dark, deep-set eyes is a dawning awareness-the first intima-
tions of an intelligence which would not fulfill itself for another
two million years.
10/13/65 a3
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A3
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.
10/13/65 a4
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A4
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 samr 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.
10/13/65 a5
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A5
EXT PARCHED COUNTRYSIDE - THE LION
The tribe slowly wanders across the bare, flat country-
side 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
Defenceless and with nowhere to hide, they scatter in all
directions, but the lion brings one to the ground.
10/13/65 a6
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A6
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 scacely 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.
10/13/65 a7
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A7
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
10/13/65 a8
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A7
CONTINUED:
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.
10/13/65 a9
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A8
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,
shieking threats and hunched for the attack. They are led
by a big-toothed hominid of Moonwatcher's own size and age.
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"2001: A Space Odyssey" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/2001:_a_space_odyssey_189>.
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