Pope Views Restored "2001: A Space Odyssey"

VATICAN CITY, MAR. 1, 2001 (Zenit.org).- The Vatican Film Library today had a premiere of the restoration of Stanley Kubrick´s classic film "2001: A Space Odyssey."

The film was projected this afternoon, in the cinema auditorium of the San Carlo Palace, where John Paul II has watched other films, such as "Life Is Beautiful," with the film´s principal actor and director, Roberto Benigni.

The Vatican authorities downplayed today´s premiere as "an event of a private character."

Joining the Pope were a number of cardinals, bishops and monsignors of the Curia, as well as leaders of the cultural world and Italian cinema, among whom were Franco Zeffirelli, Ermanno Olmi, Giuliano Montaldo and Felice Laudadio.

The guests of honor were Christiane and Anya Kubrick, the wife and daughter of the deceased director, and Jan Harlan, brother-in-law and producer of the Kubrick film, whose distribution is managed by the Luce Institute.

"2001: A Space Odyssey," first released in 1968, was chosen by the Vatican Film Library as one of the 45 most important films of the 20th century, placed first in the special section of artistic works, along with titles like Orson Wells´ "Fourth Power," and Fritz Lang´s "Metropolis."