Dark Matter

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Laurie S @Karlwinters 06/09/2024 It was a beautifully crafted story although ending in such a tragic way. But I was rooting for him the shoot the asshole professor. See more 04/12/2022 Dark Matter is about major illusions, great expectations and an extremely vivid imagination, which become a dark void only you can see. That's what can happen when the student has come further than the professor, and there's an additional cultural gap and solid dose of Jante law at play. All this issues are present in this film, and it's obvious all along where this is going, also as the plot is based on true events. It would probably work out better as a docudrama. The music score fits nicely and the acting performances, particularly from the Chinese characters, are quite solid, but why cast an overused and overrated Meryl Streep? Again she basically only plays another version of herself, and there must be thousands of less famous actresses who could do her role in this film better. Neither hers or Aidan Quinn's fame attraction benefits the total. Also there is an effort to bind the plot and fundamental message together with dividing it into chapters named after the elements, but it's unclear what the intention behind this is. Neither the attempt to create metaphoric combinations between astronomical theses and segments in the plot are very successful. Nice try, but no PhD. See more john e 02/06/2022 Director Chen Shi-Zeng presents the haunting tale of Liu Xing in his 2008 film, Dark Matter. Xing is a brilliant Chinese doctoral student who is afforded an opportunity to do research work in the United States. Xing dreams of winning a Nobel Prize and eagerly dives into pleasing his mentor, Professor Reiser (Aidan Quinn in an extremely well nuanced performance). Meryl Streep rounds out the cast as Johanna Silver. Silver is wealthy and well-intentioned donor at the University where Xing is doing his research, and she befriends him as he attempts to acclimate to the many differences of living in the United States versus China. While Streep and Quinn both give outstanding performances, for me this film was carried by Ye Liu portraying the eager and devoted protagonist, Liu Xing. He is on equal footing with his elder co-stars and steals the camera and the viewer's heart with his wide-eyed enthusiasm, naivety, and immense pride. As Xing progresses in his research for Professor Reiser, he writes home often to tell of his progress, sometimes exaggerating his own successes. The letters are presented to the viewer in voice overs and director Shi-Zeng juxtaposes Xing's words with scenes of his parents in China who work laboriously in menial jobs. These cutaways work well. On the other hand, Shi-Zeng also uses flashes of light with quick glimpses of Xing at other moments with odd camera angle cutaways that don't work. I found them distracting. There is also an odd friendship that Xing establishes with a local female barista that seems overplayed. It establishes his desire to fit in and "Americanize" but seems to have been included more to simply set up the necessary distinction between cosmology and cosmetology. Xing's brilliance soon causes animosity with the professor he has been working for and he finds his path to success and his integration into American life to be far from the experience he had dreamed of or written to his parents about. Looking for ways to remain in America he takes on work that leads to one of the most memorable scenes of the film. Xing (Lui) and Johanna (Streep) deliver a cringe worthy few moments where discomfort is agonizingly drawn out and shame is laid bare… neither character attempting to speak truthfully for fear of disappointing the other. This scene is forever etched in my brain now. After this moment, Xing takes control of his circumstances in what is an all too American way. The Beijing Angelic Choir signing a powerful version of "Beautiful Dreamer" only enhances the film's conclusion. From what I've now seen, I'm in the minority with this opinion, but I think this movie is a fine one, especially for a first-time director. This one will remain with me, flaws and all. See more 04/06/2021 L'argomento trattato avrebbe tutte le caratteristiche per essere interessante, ma ciò che lo rende poco commestibile è la regia lenta e troppo incessantemente concentrata sull'elaborazione di un carattere introverso quanto spaesato. Al posto che rendere accessibile a tutti il disagio del protagonista, lo si interiorizza, impedendo al pubblico di capirne la vera essenza. Inoltre troppi caratteri stereotipati e assolutamente inconsistenti. Peccato perchè l'idea era molto interessante. See more 06/04/2014 Meryl Streep somehow ended up in this real dog of a film about a Chinese student goes apeshit. One to be missed for sure. See more 01/04/2014 The logic for the ending is a bit too tenuous. The main character does not appear to have psychological problems to make him even just want to shoot someone, anyone. The real life person from which the film is inspired certainly was more deeply troubled. It can be however taken ironically to mean that the main character finally adapts to life in the USA and solves some frustrations the americanos way.... I think the film also wants to leaves the message that the guy chose the gun too hastily and his problems would be solved very happily with some patience - scene where his romantic interest seemed to miss him near the end. See more Read all reviews

Dark Matter

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