Particle Fever

The film is composed of two narrative threads. One follows the large team of experimental physicists at CERN as they try to get the LHC running properly. After a promising initial test run, the LHC suffers a liquid helium leak in 2007 that damages its electromagnets. Fabiola Gianotti, Martin Aleksa, and Monica Dunford are all shown discussing how to handle the negative publicity surrounding the accident, and how to proceed. After repairs in 2009, the LHC begins to run experiments again at half power.

The other thread follows the competing theories of Nima Arkani-Hamed and his mentor Savas Dimopoulos. In the film, Arkani-Hamed advocates for the "multiverse" theory, which predicts the mass of the Higgs boson to be approximately 140 giga-electronvolts. Dimopoulos argues for the more-established supersymmetry theory, which predicts the mass of the Higgs boson to be approximately 115 GeV.

The narrative threads combine at the end of the film, when CERN announces the confirmed existence of a Higgs-like particle, with a mass of approximately 125 GeV. The discovery of the particle is met with a standing ovation, and Peter Higgs is shown wiping away tears. However, neither of the competing theories of the universe is definitively supported by the finding.

Later, Kaplan is shown admitting that none of his theoretical models are supported by this finding, and that the long-term implications of the discovery are unclear.{{cite web | url=http://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress/?p=6308 | title=Particle Fever | work=Not Even Wrong | date=1 October 2013 | access-date=11 October 2016 |last1 =Woit| first1 = Peter| author-link1 =Peter Woit}}{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/05/movies/particle-fever-tells-of-search-for-the-higgs-boson.html | title='Particle Fever' Tells of Search for the Higgs Boson | work=The New York Times | date=4 March 2014 | access-date=13 October 2016 | author=Scott, A. O.}}

The film was shot over a period of seven years. It was directed by Mark Levinson, a former theoretical physicist with a doctorate from UC-Berkeley. Levinson produced the film along with David Kaplan, a professor of physics at Johns Hopkins University and producers Andrea Miller, Carla Solomon and Wendy Sax. The team gathered nearly 500 hours of footage from both professional camera crews and amateur video self-recordings shot by the physicists themselves.{{cite interview | url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/seven-years-500-hours-footage-capture-particle-fever/ | title=Physicist-turned-filmmaker captures seven years of "Particle Fever" | date=February 19, 2014 | access-date=13 October 2016 | last=Kaplan | first=David | interviewer=Rebecca Jacobson | work=PBS NewsHour}} This footage was then edited by Walter Murch, who had previously won Academy Awards for his work on Apocalypse Now and The English Patient.{{cite interview | url=http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/catching-particle-fever-qa-with-walter-murch | title=Catching 'Particle Fever': Walter Murch on Editing the Universe Down to Size | publisher=Motherboard - Vice | date=6 June 2013 | access-date=11 October 2016 | last=Murch | first=Walter | interviewer=Whitney Mallett}} Kaplan worked closely with MK12 to create the animated sequences which are used throughout the film.{{Cite web |url=http://motionographer.com/2014/03/16/particle-fever/ |title=Particle Fever |last=Cone |first=Juston |date=16 March 2014 |website=Motionographer.com |access-date=29 August 2017}}

The film premiered at Sheffield Doc/Fest on July 14, 2013.{{cite web|url=https://sheffdocfest.com/films/show/5433|access-date=13 October 2016|publisher=Sheffield Doc/Fest|title=Particle Fever}}

File:Kaplan, Levinson, Wadman in 2014.jpg

Particle Fever was shown at several festivals before opening in limited release in the United States on March 5, 2014.{{cite web | url=http://particlefever.com/downloads/ParticleFeverPressNotes.pdf | title=Particle Fever Press Notes | work=ParticleFever.com | access-date=11 October 2016}}

The film received critical acclaim, with reviewers praising the film for making theoretical arguments seem comprehensible, for making scientific experiments seem thrilling, for making particle physicists seem human, and for promoting physics outreach. Several reviewers singled out Murch's editing for praise.{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/particle-fever|title=Particle Fever Reviews|work=Metacritic | publisher=CBS Interactive | access-date=11 October 2016}} On his blog, theoretical physicist and string theory critic Peter Woit called the film "fantastically good", but cautioned that Arkani-Hamed's linking of the Higgs boson to multiverse theory was a tenuous proposition, as this theory did not currently make testable predictions.

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 96% based on 48 reviews, with an average rating of 7.92 out of 10. The site's consensus states: "The concepts behind its heady subject matter may fly over the heads of most viewers, but Particle Fever presents it in such a way that even the least science-inclined viewers will find themselves enraptured."{{cite web |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/particle_fever/ |title= Particle Fever (2014) |work=Rotten Tomatoes |publisher=Fandango Media |access-date=16 April 2018 }} On Metacritic, the film has an 87 out of 100 rating, based on 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

In 2016, it was one of the inaugural winners of the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jun/16/winners-of-inaugural-stephen-hawking-medal-announced-hans-zimmer-jim-al-khalili-particle-fever |title=Winners of inaugural Stephen Hawking medal announced |last=Davis |first=Nicola |date=16 June 2016 |work=The Guardian |access-date=7 December 2017}}

On July 27, 2024, at San Diego Comic-Con, composer Bear McCreary announced that he is working on a musical theater version of the documentary film, called Particle Fever: The Musical. He also announced that he's working with composer/lyricist Zoe Sarnak, playwrighter David Henry Hwang, and art director Leigh Silverman.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1vEm9O45jw |title=[Interview] Composer Bear McCreary at San Diego Comic-Con |date=3 August 2024 |publisher=Temple of Geek |via=YouTube}}

{{reflist|2}}

• {{Official website|http://particlefever.com/}}
• {{IMDb title|1385956}}
• {{Mojo title|particlefever}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes|particle_fever}}
• {{Metacritic film}}

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Category:2013 films

Category:2013 documentary films

Category:American documentary films

Category:CERN

Category:Documentary films about science

Category:Films set in Switzerland

Category:Films shot in Switzerland

Category:2010s English-language films

Category:2010s American films

Category:Films scored by Robert Miller

Category:English-language documentary films