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Things rotate, turn, roll, spin, orbit and basically move round and round in 2001. Other things have a stark rectangular perspective. This is a visual dichotomy that is prevalent in almost every scene in the movie. All rotating movement is life being lived in a cycle. Every time the scene or set has hard, straight... um monolithic lines, especially in a vanishing perspective, life is ascending to a different level. The most famous revolutions are the space station and Discovery's crew quarters. The most memorable monolith scene is the stargate sequence.

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Straight revolution shot. Most of the shots that involve static behavior without any movement towards a higher plane of existence have this sort of circular motion. This woman is bringing no one any closer to the star child state. In fact, she's carrying food around - one of the basic problems with having a human body.

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This is just an airlock. It's mere technology. Not at all sentient and staffed by a person who could be replaced by a machine. Visually, it just goes round and round like a Ferris wheel and Floyd has had enough.

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I've written a lot about the following in other parts of this site. Suffice to say that confrontation over resources is the kind of body/tool centered thinking that is involved in living life on one level.

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Frank is celebrating a birthday. Not birth or death, yet. He's busy maintaining his body and at least indirectly is concerned with species perpetuation (in speaking with his parents). Their talk about salary increases goes well with the constant fight for more resources.

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Here's a monolithic shot. Floyd ascends to the moon.

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Floyd arrives on the station, ascending from earth and moving away from the waterhole. He's on his way to the monolith. He show zero interest in the babe behind the counter - maintaining his genetic code here is not a big deal to him.

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Floyd explains that these scientists no longer have lives or families. They are officially dedicated to the monolith. They have left everything behind. The pictures taken before the meeting began was the end of that life.

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Hard to say.� The stairs are almost suggest a spiral...

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The ultimate monolith room. HAL is the fulfillment of the first creative impulses of the ape in the Dawn of Man. He is composed of brilliant monoliths. He must be entered through... a circle. In order for humans to enter HAL, they must rise to his level. Not how Floyd's message is also dominated by circles (an eclipse in fact - possibly a reference to him personally losing the race to become the star child).

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A hybrid. The airlock that Bowman returns through to kill HAL. Bowman is both assuring his place as the ascendant being by using the old revolutionary method of murder. Note the combination of red and white. The sexual theme is white enters red chambers - this room is so borderline that Bowman is blasted into it and shook around a bit.

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One way trip to transcendent state.

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This room is square. There is nowhere to go... but up.