I took the Room at the End to be Bowman watching himself grow older and die before being reborn, in keeping with the recurring theme. The camera moves to reflect each Bowman's point-of-view, looking at his next incarnation. You could interpret it as another metaphor for human evolution (in keeping with another of the film's themes). As to why it takes place in a replica of a bedroom, or why a Louis XVI chair and table is also set there, I don't know (though it looks great). It could be that the alien intelligence has created an environment that Bowman could understand, or where he could be comfortable as he evolves into the Star Child. If that is the case, Steven Spielberg (or, possibly, Kubrick himself) cannily reinterpreted that idea for AI: Artificial Intelligence (another science fiction film I love).

The scene that looks great, but, for me, doesn't quite fit with the established themes of 2001 is the sequence of Bowman traveling through the Monolith. It's an amazing show of light and color, I am entranced every time I watch it, it's bravura film making, I don't want the scene to not be part of the film... but it really doesn't add anything to the story, per se.



James