DVD Review: DARK MATTER - Visually Striking Feature Debut

By Stuart Cummins / August 9, 2011

Taking inspiration from a real-life university tragedy, former opera director Shi-Zheng Chen creates a visually striking feature-film debut. Released yesterday on DVD, our review follows€ Liu Xing (Ye Liu) arrives in the US on a university scholarship from China. Attending university in Salt Lake City, he is a graduate student who is lucky enough to study under Professor Reiser's (Aidan Quinn) esteemed cosmology program. Making friends quickly, Xing is introduced to Joanna Silver (Meryl Streep), who helps acclimatise the students into American culture. Working with his fellow students, Xing dedicates all of his time to working on a project that will help extend and further Reiser's model of the origins of the universe. He soon earns the respect of Reiser and his colleagues, impressing them with his sheer genius. Finding great favour with Reiser until his own theories move him away from the professor€™s discoveries, Xing is suddenly left fighting to prove that his theories are in fact correct. Meanwhile, frequently writing to his proud parents back in China, Xing finds himself plagued with the pressure of trying to keep them happy. When his dissertation is declined and he fails to graduate, Xing finds himself taking drastic measures to get even with those who denied his brilliance€ Dark Matter is a film that looks remarkable, despite being over-long through its insistence on building (ineffective) suspense and generally rather dull. Chen brings an artistic touch to his direction €“ undoubtedly mastered through his work in the Chinese opera €“ and effectively jolts times within the narrative through various cuts to and from the distraught Xing during the film. Chen also chooses some interesting camera angles that help heighten the twisted nature of the narrative. For example, early in the film, Joanna takes the students to a Western themed centre and they play at a shootout, which results in the students pretending to be dead. The low camera angle of the €˜bodies€™ and slow-motion footage are shown in a flashback as Xing formulates his idea to enact his revenge on faculty and students by shooting them. The scene that was originally a fun and happy occasion immediately becomes menacing and chilling, as Xing€™s plans become clear to viewers. For a debut feature film director, Chen proves that he is an expressive and accomplished director and it is his style that helps make the film more interesting than the narrative would be alone. As Xing, Ye Liu proves a formidable talent on screen and his performance surpasses that of Streep€™s even. Liu perfectly captures all of the conflicts within the narrative, from the simple, logistical ones of a language barrier, to the deep, emotional ones of having to contend with a tyrannical and jealous professor. Liu develops Xing from an apologetic, respectful (to a fault) young graduate student to the ruthless and sadistic killer by the close of the story. Managing to convey as much meaning in a few facial expressions as he can in a monologue, Liu generates both sympathy and contempt for his character, inducing a conflict within viewers themselves. Streep and Quinn also give excellent performances. Quinn is reprehensible as Reiser, a man who finds it impossible to accept that there may be somebody with a greater intellect than himself and with a more impressive theory. Streep€™s character is rather complex €“ she is a patron of Chinese culture, but this appears to be affecting our marriage. Very little is made of this however €“ and not enough time is given to developing her. However, working within the confines of her limited development, Streep works her usual magic and lends a sense of aptitude to the production. Joanna remains a rather unconnected character however and it becomes patently obvious that Streep is there for the exact opposite of the dark matter of the narrative: she€™s a shining star! The film looks great on the DVD release, with the muted colour palette working well to reflect the more gritty and realistic tone of the narrative. The picture is always clear and crisp, unless Chen uses an effect to represent Xing€™s growing insanity, for example. Audio is unfortunately less proficient, with dialogue clear and audible for some of the time, but far too quiet to hear without turning the television up to an unusually high volume in many places. The constant adjustment of the volume becomes extremely irritating, but is unfortunately necessary in order to hear everything clearly. The disc doesn€™t come with any special features unfortunately. Overall, Dark Matter is a film that isn€™t likely to appeal to a wide audience, but to those who enjoy visually striking cinema or those with a penchant for gritty, psychological dramas. For a film based on true events, this could not be more different to the inspiring events, so don€™t expect to see a fact-based drama that has any semblance of truth. Instead, seek Dark Matter out for its exceptional performances and breathtaking visuals. Dark Matter was released on DVD this week.