Foreseeing the possible rise in popularity for an A-actress (Mamma Mia! and Doubt), First Independent Pictures have made the kind of move by a little indie company trying to make a buck. It preemed at the Sundance Film Festival and features Meryl Streep, but the feature film debut directed by Chen Shi-Zheng never could find distribution. Perhaps it was the weird 80’s hair-do that she wears but more like the troubling subject matter that gets examined.
Written by Billy Shebar, inspired by a true story, Dark Matter depicts
the humor, frustration and heartbreak that results when different
cultures collide and communication falters. The film follows the story
of Liu Xing, a brilliant Chinese science student, who strives to
impress his mentor Jacob Reiser (Quinn) with his theories on the
origins of the universe. Helping Liu Xing adapt but unable to protect
him from academic politics are Joanna (Streep), a patron of the
university with a passion for all things Chinese, and Hildy (Brown),
Reiser’s secretary.
Winner of Sundance’s weird Alfred P Sloan Award, this will get an April release.
