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Dark Matter is a gritty thriller based on the true story of a tragic high school shooting. Liu Xing is a gifted Chinese physics student who makes many scientific breakthroughs whilst studying in the US. When political forces at the university prevent him from being put forward for a Nobel Prize, he goes on a terrifying rampage at the campus killing everyone in his way.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By F. Taylor
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a fantastic film and it beats me why nobody seems to know about it. I've read that it was due to come out just as the Virginia Tech events took place, so the film was shelved and released quietly on DVD only two years later. That may be one of the reasons why it didn't get much coverage in the press/ adverts/ trailers etc. I also think it may be hard for some audiences to relate to it and appreciate it objectively due to the American baddie/ Asian goodie (turned baddie) dichotomy. Still, I find it hard to understand how this seems to have been off the radar for so long.
I don't want to reveal too many details, but the film is inspired by actual events, though, I understand, not entirely faithful to what happened in reality. The plot revolves around a brilliant Chinese student who goes to America to work on his PhD with a famous cosmologist. All is great until the student starts becoming better than the Professor, who won't let him publish/ research an alternative theory. The student collapses psychologically after he fails his PhD viva and, well, reacts in a way that many found surprising.
The film has been criticised for veering off from actual fact, for being schmaltzy (Meryl Streep has quite a mumsy role in it!), and for depicting an unbelievable level of emotion that the student is going through after being stopped from continuing the research he believed in. I can't comment on the degree of realism, as I'm not familiar with the original incident, but I for one can't see the point of judging the quality of a film (exclusively) according to how realistic it is. I agree that there were a few scenes that came across as a bit too sentimental, but overall the film worked well and was perfectly convincing. Having been through an eerily similar experience with a PhD supervisor myself, I can testify that a student can go through absolute emotional hell when something like this happens. Thankfully, my family's solid support helped me get over the situation with no tragic consequences, which wasn't the case for the main character in this film. (His family were working in abysmal conditions in China, having only his letters to keep their morale up.)
There's a lot of symbolism and clever cinematography in the film too, with sound, shape and colour contrasts all contributing actively to the story. Perhaps the characters and the plot are a bit mono-dimensional, but in my opinion that doesn't stop this from being a brilliant, albeit gut-wrenching, film.
I don't want to reveal too many details, but the film is inspired by actual events, though, I understand, not entirely faithful to what happened in reality. The plot revolves around a brilliant Chinese student who goes to America to work on his PhD with a famous cosmologist. All is great until the student starts becoming better than the Professor, who won't let him publish/ research an alternative theory. The student collapses psychologically after he fails his PhD viva and, well, reacts in a way that many found surprising.
The film has been criticised for veering off from actual fact, for being schmaltzy (Meryl Streep has quite a mumsy role in it!), and for depicting an unbelievable level of emotion that the student is going through after being stopped from continuing the research he believed in. I can't comment on the degree of realism, as I'm not familiar with the original incident, but I for one can't see the point of judging the quality of a film (exclusively) according to how realistic it is. I agree that there were a few scenes that came across as a bit too sentimental, but overall the film worked well and was perfectly convincing. Having been through an eerily similar experience with a PhD supervisor myself, I can testify that a student can go through absolute emotional hell when something like this happens. Thankfully, my family's solid support helped me get over the situation with no tragic consequences, which wasn't the case for the main character in this film. (His family were working in abysmal conditions in China, having only his letters to keep their morale up.)
There's a lot of symbolism and clever cinematography in the film too, with sound, shape and colour contrasts all contributing actively to the story. Perhaps the characters and the plot are a bit mono-dimensional, but in my opinion that doesn't stop this from being a brilliant, albeit gut-wrenching, film.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Coconutmilk
Format:DVD
This is a little strange and is not what I expected from the film and the description, as it is more about the downfall and deception of the student. However, I watched this film because of Meryl Streep and she is, of course, amazing in this film.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.2 out of 5 stars
26 reviews
51 of 53 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Clashes: Cultural, Linguistic, Scientific, Emotional
18 April 2009
By Grady Harp
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:DVD
DARK MATTER is a film that will polarize audiences: for those who seek understanding of the clashes between science and 'religion' and the matrix from which tragedy grows the film will appeal, and for the audiences who demand tidy stories with happy resolutions the film will not please. Apparently 'based on true events', this story has many layers that invite discussion and reveals some facts about the American Academia that many would rather not know.
Liu Xing (Ye Liu) comes from a poor family in Beijing, but rises to hopeful heights due to his exceptional scientific intelligence and is invited to a prestigious university to study with Cosmology professor Jacob Reiser (Aidan Quinn), the author of the Reiser String Theory - the entire universe is tied into a compact single ball of cosmic wax. Liu Xing encounters initial success not only academically but also as a fresh young student, barely able to speak English, who is taken under the wing of the kind matron of Chinese culture, Johanna Silver (Meryl Streep). Liu Xing develops his own theory that the universe is united by massive amounts of unseen Dark Matter. When the student's theory conflicts with Reiser's theory, the negative results begin to affect each of the characters: Liu Xing sees his dream of earning a PhD in Cosmology and winning the Nobel Prize for his theory destroyed by the powers of academia and as he watches his fellow Chinese students succeed, he is plagued with low self esteem as he attempts to support his family in Beijing with money earned selling cosmetics door to door. The downfall of a simple genius destroyed by the inner workings of academia leads to unimaginable tragedy.
Billy Shebar's screenplay tinkers with the story's credibility with a heavy dose of sentimentality at times, but director Shi-Zheng Chen keeps the story moving by allowing the audience to witness frequent glimpses of Liu Xing's humble Beijing home life. The star of the film is the very talented Ye Liu, but Streep and Quinn carry their rather minor roles with great dignity and understatement. This is a moving story, too frequently repeated in our campuses to overlook. There is much more to this film than first viewings reveal. Grady Harp, April 09
Liu Xing (Ye Liu) comes from a poor family in Beijing, but rises to hopeful heights due to his exceptional scientific intelligence and is invited to a prestigious university to study with Cosmology professor Jacob Reiser (Aidan Quinn), the author of the Reiser String Theory - the entire universe is tied into a compact single ball of cosmic wax. Liu Xing encounters initial success not only academically but also as a fresh young student, barely able to speak English, who is taken under the wing of the kind matron of Chinese culture, Johanna Silver (Meryl Streep). Liu Xing develops his own theory that the universe is united by massive amounts of unseen Dark Matter. When the student's theory conflicts with Reiser's theory, the negative results begin to affect each of the characters: Liu Xing sees his dream of earning a PhD in Cosmology and winning the Nobel Prize for his theory destroyed by the powers of academia and as he watches his fellow Chinese students succeed, he is plagued with low self esteem as he attempts to support his family in Beijing with money earned selling cosmetics door to door. The downfall of a simple genius destroyed by the inner workings of academia leads to unimaginable tragedy.
Billy Shebar's screenplay tinkers with the story's credibility with a heavy dose of sentimentality at times, but director Shi-Zheng Chen keeps the story moving by allowing the audience to witness frequent glimpses of Liu Xing's humble Beijing home life. The star of the film is the very talented Ye Liu, but Streep and Quinn carry their rather minor roles with great dignity and understatement. This is a moving story, too frequently repeated in our campuses to overlook. There is much more to this film than first viewings reveal. Grady Harp, April 09
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
GENIUS GRAD STUDENT FALLS INTO A SHARK TANK
20 Sep 2009
By David R. Eastwood
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:DVD
DARK MATTER is a harrowing movie about a young genius's attempt to earn a Ph.D., share his ground-breaking ideas about the universe, and improve the lives of his parents and himself. Well scripted and well acted, it rings true.
SPOILER ALERT: at the end, after being repeatedly thwarted by his major advisor/professor and his committee, he "goes postal." All of us who follow the news can recall similar horrific conclusions to real-life stories of academic pressure and frustration.
Looking back on my own career, as a retired college professor who taught for 37 years and who spent 6 years earning my own advanced degrees, I can vouch for the general nastiness of the academic world since the late 1950s. Most academics, despite pretensions to living in an Ivory Tower, swim in a Shark Tank--and sadly many of those who succeed in that environment become the sort of shark-like person who perpetuates it. Power corrupts, whether in government, businesses, or our universities.
Viewers/reviewers who were expecting any sort of upbeat ending to this film were probably not paying attention--or perhaps were imagining they were seeing an academic film that was kindred to A BEAUTIFUL MIND (2002) or GOOD WILL HUNTING (1998).
Liu Xing (Ye Liu), Johanna Silver (Meryl Streep), and Jacob Reiser (Aidan Quinn) are the three main characters (stars) of this film--respectively the genius graduate student, the helpful and sympathetic culture maven, and the powerful, egotistical, self-promoting professor.
Watch this at your own peril. By the way, I do not plan to recommend this to many of my academic friends: most of them are good souls with tender hearts, who would find it stirring up far too many bad memories about their own careers.
SPOILER ALERT: at the end, after being repeatedly thwarted by his major advisor/professor and his committee, he "goes postal." All of us who follow the news can recall similar horrific conclusions to real-life stories of academic pressure and frustration.
Looking back on my own career, as a retired college professor who taught for 37 years and who spent 6 years earning my own advanced degrees, I can vouch for the general nastiness of the academic world since the late 1950s. Most academics, despite pretensions to living in an Ivory Tower, swim in a Shark Tank--and sadly many of those who succeed in that environment become the sort of shark-like person who perpetuates it. Power corrupts, whether in government, businesses, or our universities.
Viewers/reviewers who were expecting any sort of upbeat ending to this film were probably not paying attention--or perhaps were imagining they were seeing an academic film that was kindred to A BEAUTIFUL MIND (2002) or GOOD WILL HUNTING (1998).
Liu Xing (Ye Liu), Johanna Silver (Meryl Streep), and Jacob Reiser (Aidan Quinn) are the three main characters (stars) of this film--respectively the genius graduate student, the helpful and sympathetic culture maven, and the powerful, egotistical, self-promoting professor.
Watch this at your own peril. By the way, I do not plan to recommend this to many of my academic friends: most of them are good souls with tender hearts, who would find it stirring up far too many bad memories about their own careers.
27 of 33 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellant movie on non-western cosmology breakthrough
16 April 2009
By Michael A. Scheurich
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:DVD
Excellent presentation by Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn and Liu Ye about a young Chinese student in America whose advanced theories on the universe exceeds that of his professors causing a rift between him, the American establishment and traditional western religion as well. This film demonstrates how jealousy and ambition within American Academia and American religious institutes has sent cosmology discoveries back into the dark ages. It's a sad but true tale of how the scientific world has been influenced by the infiltration of Western religious dogma.
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3.2 out of 5 stars
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