<P> Kubrick encouraged people to explore their own interpretations of the film, and refused to offer an explanation of "what really happened" in the movie, preferring instead to let audiences embrace their own ideas and theories . In a 1968 interview with Playboy, Kubrick stated: </P> <P> You're free to speculate as you wish about the philosophical and allegorical meaning of the film--and such speculation is one indication that it has succeeded in gripping the audience at a deep level--but I don't want to spell out a verbal road map for 2001 that every viewer will feel obligated to pursue or else fear he's missed the point . </P> <P> Neither of the two creators equated openness to interpretation with meaninglessness, although it might seem that Clarke implied as much when he stated, shortly after the film's release, "If anyone understands it on the first viewing, we've failed in our intention ." When told of the comment, Kubrick said "I believe he made it (the comment) facetiously . The very nature of the visual experience in 2001 is to give the viewer an instantaneous, visceral reaction that does not--and should not--require further amplification ." When told that Kubrick had called his comment' facetious', Clarke responded </P> <P> I still stand by this remark, which does not mean one can't enjoy the movie completely the first time around . What I meant was, of course, that because we were dealing with the mystery of the universe, and with powers and forces greater than man's comprehension, then by definition they could not be totally understandable . Yet there is at least one logical structure--and sometimes more than one--behind everything that happens on the screen in "2001", and the ending does not consist of random enigmas, some critics to the contrary . </P>

What is the ending of 2001 a space odyssey about