Dark Matter (film)

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Dark Matter
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Chen Shi-zheng
Produced by	Janet Yang Mary Salter Andrea Miller
Written by	Billy Shebar
Starring	Liu Ye Aidan Quinn Meryl Streep
Release date(s)	2007 Sundance Film Festival April, 2008
Running time	90 min
Country	United States
Language	English
IMDb profile

Dark Matter (simplified Chinese: 黑暗物质) is the first feature film by opera director Chen Shi-zheng, starring Liu Ye, Aidan Quinn and Meryl Streep. It won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Among the notable actors considered were Julianne Moore and Kai Wong.

Liu Ye plays young scientist whose rising star must confront the dark forces of politics, ego, and cultural insensitivity. The film is based on true events.

1 Plot summary
2 Critical reception
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Plot summary

Loosely inspired by the true story of Gang Lu, a Chinese physics student, but with substantial differences in plot and character motivation, the film stars Liu Xing (Liu Ye), as a humble, but brilliant, Chinese student, who arrives at Valley State University and makes a bumpy transition into American life with the help of Joanna Silver (Meryl Streep), a wealthy university patron who takes a liking to the young student. Xing joins a select cosmology group under the direction of his hero, the famous cosmologist Professor Jacob Reiser (Aidan Quinn). The group is working to create a model of the origins of the universe, based on Reiser's theory. Xing's enormous talent leads him quickly to become Reiser's protégé, and it seems that only hard work stands between him and a bright future in science. But Xing is obsessed with the study of dark matter, an unseen substance that he believes shapes the universe, and a theory that conflicts with the Reiser model. When Xing begins to make scientific breakthroughs of his own, he begins to encounter unexpected obstacles.

[edit] Critical reception

Critics gave the film generally negative to mixed reviews. As of April 11, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 32% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 19 reviews.^[1] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 49 out of 100, based on 7 reviews.^[2]