space - silence - monkey chase

so i was lucky enough to go see 2001: space odyssey yesterday at TIFF lightbox.  funny, i have seen parts of them so many times, however, this may be the first time that i saw it through, from beginning to the end.

then, as always,
i was left at the end with the greatest confusion.

WTF happened?

many films tend to leave me with more questions.  not the easy questions either- always provoking and questioning, a bit like pebble under the shoe somewhere when you are wearing a lace-up boots!  'amour' was like that, and so was 'mr. turner.' 'separation' and so many others…  i often feel cautious to 'commit' to a movie for this particular reason, ahaha!

the idea of the monolith, the star child, the all-seeing eye of HAL, these are the icons that stuck through and through since. too bad that 'silence' in space did not stick through (drives me crazy when seeing a space scene, it is accompanied by obscenely loud sounds; there is no sound in vac!)

then there's also the question of silence itself.

whenever the men were in the space (frank and dave), all one hears is the man's heartbeat.

it made me wonder when i could be in such place-

see, the closest thing one can get to is sticking the head under the water. but then if you are in a tub, you will hear other resonant noise around the tub (plumbing, things from the floor, wall, etc).  if you are in the sea, unless it's absolutely still, there'll be movement of the water- waves, splashes, even life forms.  I've been in anechoic chamber. may be that's the closest.  but i remember feeling (may be not hearing) the sound of the air ducts/vents (as those chambers are always INSIDE, it will have air circulations system).  on a still mountain top (which i love dearly), there still will be some sound.

even before a baby is born, or before developing the aural sensory (supposedly the first one to develop out of the common five senses), the fetus would feel the resonance of the ambient sound through the body of the mother…

where can i hear the just my own heartbeat?
do deaf person hear any sound? i know they sense it. is it same as hearing? if they are to sense it through resonance and react, then they are definitely listening but… hearing?

we can live without air for a (very) short period of time.
we can go on without food for a quite a bit.
we can stay up for a reasonable amo of time.
we die without water, but will last a bit.
but can we be in silence?

and once we get there, if we can get there, what would it be like?

would i get there at the point of my own termination? at death?
would it be relieving or oppressing?

kubrick, you genius.
thanks for ruining my mental silence!

i shall chew on this simple question for a next little while.
oh silence. you illusive enigma.