Interpretations of 2001: A Space Odyssey onto it all manner of ideas relating to the film. The Monolith in the movie seems to represent and even trigger epic transitions in the history of human evolution, evolution of man from ape-like beings to civilised people, hence the odyssey of mankind. Vincent LoBrutto's biography of Kubrick notes that for many, Clarke's novel is the key to understanding the monolith. Similarly, Geduld observes that "the monolith ...has a very simple explanation in Clarke's novel", though she later asserts that even the novel does not fully explain the ending. "Rolling Stone" reviewer Bob McClay sees the film as a four-movement
2001: A Space Odyssey (film) "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. "Sight & Sound" magazine ranked "2001: A Space Odyssey" sixth in the top ten films of all time in its 2002 and 2012 critics' polls editions; it also tied for second place in the magazine's 2012 directors' poll. In 2010, it was named the greatest film of all time by "The Moving Arts Film Journal". In an African desert millions of years ago, a tribe of hominids is driven away from its water hole by a rival tribe. They