Some foreign students coming to American universities don't adapt easily to the environment they find, however nice the professors and mentors are to them. No matter how brilliant they are, there seems to be a sort of wall between their higher goals and the reality of the culture they find in a land that, for all practical purposes might be the moon, as far as they are concerned.
This is a story based on an actual incident at the University of Iowa in 1991. Not remembering the actual incident, watching the film we are taken to a sort of situation that probably parallels the original tale in which a Chinese student's relationship with a professor is examined. The casualness of Jacob Reiser's approach to science clashes with his protégé Liu Xing in ways that will end in tragic results. Liu Xing dreams about a possibility of winning a Nobel prize as he begins to question his mentor in aspects concerning the cosmology matters.
The film, directed by Chen Shi-Zeng, who is well known for his direction of operas that have played in America, is a beautiful piece of film making. The trouble though is one's own detachment from the lofty subject at the center of the piece. The picture will be appreciated much more by people in this particular field. The main asset is the magnificent music in the background by the Beijing Angelic Choir in the interpretation of classics such as "Ode to Joy", "Beautiful Dreamer" and Schubert's "Serenade" that blend well within the content of the piece.
As far as the performances, Ye Lui, a Chinese actor makes a case for his Liu Xing. Meryl Streep, who appears as Joanna Silver, a sort of unofficial counselor to the Chinese student population, has no other explanation of being in the film because of her name, more than what she is asked to do. Aidan Quinn is good as Professor Reiser.
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