I did not know that. (Off-Topic)

by cheapLEY , Friday, July 24, 2015, 11:39 (3497 days ago) @ narcogen

In that case, I have no idea how the audience is supposed to understand what's happening in the last third of that film.

I think you're just supposed to speculate about it. There really would be no good way for the film to communicate those ideas without a mechanism like a voiceover, and Kubrick (I think wisely) chose not to include one.

It's also possible to watch the sequel and get a kind of explanation of what happened at the end of 2001 from that.

This. I haven't read the book or seen the sequel (and will remedy both soon), so I can't say that I "get" whatever was going on. I assumed that was part of the point. You're supposed to try and reach your own conclusion.

I can't say not understanding the ending hurt the film at all, at least not in my eyes.