Dark Matter (2008)

Very best movie i ever watch

The first must-see film of the year.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Liu Xing is recruited from China to work as a graduate student under his hero Jacob Reiser (Aidan Quinn). Reiser is famous for his model of physics. Liu Xing joins a group of Chinese students who work for Reiser with little pay. They scrounge for food but Liu Xing paints a pretty picture for his hard-working parents back home. Joanna Silver (Meryl Streep) is a rich benefactor for the Chinese students. Liu Xing falls for coffee girl Jackie (Taylor Schilling) but she doesn't feel the same. He starts to push for a different model than Reiser but he's rejected. As each failure piles up, he breaks down in a volatile way.I have two main problems with this movie. Firstly, this seems to suggest that China is a free source of third world mental labor. I don't think it works quite as well in the present day but it works better back in 1991. Second, the ending is such a different tone that it damages the movie. The movie desperately needs foreshadowing. Liu Xing needs to have a more complex personality. It's like the movie falls a cliff and there is no warning.

Dark Matter is an excellent, deep, and poignant film with a controversial yet VERY CLEAR message.To effectively describe and review this film is no easy task. Some reviews range from "it's anti-Western" and "should be boycotted" to "beautiful and touching" and the like. It is very clear to me that those former reviews were written by individuals with little capacity to understand cultural norms and the pressure to succeed whereas the latter more positive reviews were deduced by those who 'know better', for lack of a better term.Dark Matter was filmed in Vancouver BC Canada and area. There is a very large Chinese population. Moreover, as is clear in the film, there is a large population of Chinese students and immigrants that move there for a 'better quality of life'. Having lived in Vancouver and the West Coast for over 20 years (where this was filmed), Dark Matter, its story, and the conclusion came as no surprise to me. Sadly, this story demonstrates extremely well the cultural and general 'bias' that continues to permeate and perpetuate cultural divide and misunderstanding in many parts of North America, and not solely in academia. There are moments where one can't help but smile (as I found myself doing) and there are moments of clear despair, confusion and ultimately major let-down as a Chinese student strives for much-needed success but is held back for a variety of reasons. These particular reasons were obvious to me however each viewer will likely draw their own opinion and conclusion as to what happened. And what did occur in the end is not far-fetched at all but is disturbing and ultimately quite sad.Ye Liu and Meryl Streep are very strong and complex characters and it is amazing to watch the dynamic between the two, as well as the more complicated and difficult dynamic with other students and Professors. So many elements in this film are so well done that it is impossible not to be drawn in. And one can't help but feel for the main characters (I don't want to cause spoilers, so I will leave it at that).A lesson. A true story. An important film which must be seen to see Ye Liu's character unravel in a common fashion, although most similar stories/true accounts do not end so violently. As much as I enjoyed the film, it also left me quite sad; sad that so many people refuse to acknowledge a very common reality and throw out the "this film is Anti-Western!!!" comments. That is not the case however there is a cultural clash.It is difficult for me to write more about this film. Watch Dark Matter with an open mind and, although basically impossible, do not judge. I do not condone what happened, but I understand WHY.Take some time to view this film. It is important for everyone.

The reviews I've read about this movie on IMDb, I believe, miss the point of the film. What this movie says is the following:The world is not a perfect place -- many spoilers abound. The young student in this film was blocked and humiliated by an arrogant and defensive college professor. That was very wrong. What I think the film is attempting to convey in a stark manner follows:1. The world and its people are not always fair. Fairness is in the eyes of the beholder. It's a philosophical abstract -- not a fact.2. When wronged, damage can often not be reversed. Anger and frustration follow.3. Retribution may be justified, but if it is self-destructive, nothing is gained, and the person who was victimized, victimizes himself.4. Rather than letting one's frustration and anger generate self-destructive behavior,it's sometimes best to just lick one's wounds and go forward with life. One may not be able to rectify a bad situation or inflict deserved retribution, without further damaging one's self. In this case. The Bad Guy won, even though he, also, died.That's the lesson I perceived from this movie, and that's what makes it's abrupt and surprising ending so powerful. The young student was wronged. As a result he proceeded to hurt others, but he also destroyed himself. That was a foolish choice.

I really wanted to like this film... Great actors, interesting science story, etc. I understand that it is based on an actual event, but I was really hoping for a better constructed ending, with some kind of important message to take away.Please let the film's message be about a brilliant foreign student who overcomes a language barrier and the academic / scientific roadblocks to getting the recognition that he deserves... Or at least be a story about how he doesn't overcome these hurdles, in an inspiring way, so as to give us hope for the future.But no! It ends in an insane classroom shooting and suicide just because the student may have been treated unfairly in getting the credit he may have deserved. (This happens to many people without them going on a shooting rampage)! So what's the message? It's certainly not about my hoped for story line. It's appears to about the need for psychological screening of potentially disturbed people, and maybe the looking for warning signs. No sane person does what they did just because they feel unappreciated or unrecognized. Maybe if the movie could have shown a stronger justification / understanding of the student's action... they could have pulled it off. However, the director + writer really failed to do this. At the end we're just left with a sick feeling of "what a waste"... with no clear message of what to do with the information we just got from the movie's story; and with any compassion for the student that we might have had earlier in the story, washed away.