Documentary Film Festival Review: Particle Fever
Particle Fever is a documentary about an expensive and decades long experiment to discover the never before seen Higgs Boson. A group of physicists are stuck onto trying to find the Higgs Boson in order to make more sense of the world, and help explain why and how things happened. The documentary well presents the excitement of the four thousand scientists and give the audience a general explanation of the experiments, and the consequences of the experiment are.
The major theme is based on man against nature. The scientists try desperately to find the Higgs Boson because it is the main element that pulls all matter together. One of the main instruments used to help find the Higgs Boson is a five story high camera that is supposed to catch the particle and sense its movement. Without the Higgs Boson, or if it disappeared out of nowhere, life as we know it would cease to exist.
The quality of this film is eye-grabbing and well plotted. It focuses on the scientists’ work lives as well as their personal lives to keep the audience entertained. Parts of the documentary were taken from a young physicist, Monica Dunford’s, video diary of the discovery of the Higgs Boson. There wasn’t much “acting” as there were actual reactions and conversations. The film is suited for a more adult audience because of its high knowledge in science. A young audience would become bored, or confused while watching Particle Fever. However, I highly recommend the film to anyone who is interested in evolution, science, or discoveries.
The strengths of the film were the explanations of the experiments they were conducting. Their depth of understanding made it helpful to grasp a general knowledge of the importance of the Higgs Boson. Although their understanding was supreme, there were long breaks between the experiment and personal/side stories that drew my attention away from the theme of the documentary.
Overall the film was well made and a great film for anyone who is interested in science. It was interesting to see how the experiments were conducted and how the scientists were excited to make a once in a lifetime discovery.