Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

dwpollar 1st watched 4/2/2009 – 7 out of 10 (Dir-Xiao Jiang): Well delivered, emotional story about a girl, her ups & downs in her life, and how movie viewing and movies in general, were involved in the whole process. The main character is introduced at the beginning of the film after a paper boy runs into a stack of bricks in an alley and is assaulted by the girl for some reason. When he awakes from his injury, he wants to find out why she did this and looks for her. When he finds her, she doesn't tell him why she did this(she also can't hear, it appears) but asks him to take care of and feed her fish – knowing she's going away. He doesn't really want to do this, but as her enters her apartment where she lives he discovers a mini theatre-like room with a diary that he begins reading. The diary reveals the life of the girl and the movie then really begins as we discover what her life was like. The story of her and her family revolves around an outdoor theatre that the local townfolk come to in the evenings. Her mom announces the evening event through a loud speaker and becomes associated when the man who plays the films. Her mom wanted to be a movie star or singer but after bearing a child(the main character) out of wedlock is shunned by the locals and her dreams disappear. The rest of the movie follows the young girls friendships made and lost and the history of the outdoor theatre that eventually closes down due to the invention of television. The daughter is told early in life that her real father is a movie star(which is not true) but this also keeps her fascinated to the screen. The movie is wonderful at how it displays this story and the various characters although it is sad at various times, but if you are looking for an interesting and compelling and sensitive story about real life you will enjoy this one.

Harry T. Yung Many who have seen this movie instinctively placed it in the category of movies that talk about watching movies (in this particularly case, Chinese movies in the earlier eras of movie-making in the country). Some go as far as saying that one's enjoyment of Electric Shadows will be significantly reduced if one's not familiar with the movies referred to. I don't think that is the case. Although watching movies does feature prominently in ES, even more important is the story of a mother and a child during some turbulent times.The original title in the Mainland is "Movie memories" while the local Chinese title given is a more literary "Images of dreams from childhood". The debut of its director, this movie is unsophisticated, sometimes contrived, but also fresh and affecting in some parts. If you have seen enough movies, you would have come across its the general structure – a chance encounter of the protagonists that turn out to share some childhood memories. There is also a double narration set-up, first as a voice over from MAO Dabing ("big soldier" who was "Xiaobing", or "small soldier" when he was a kid). Then it carries on as voice over of Ling-ling, a childhood buddy that Dabing bumped into (almost literally) again, as adults.I am not going to spend time on the rather far-fetched coincidences, contrivances and unexplained plot holes. The real story, the flashback told basically through Ling-ling's diary (the voice over), starts with her mother Xeuhua's misadventure with a young lover (whose face we never saw) who deserted her with a child born out of wedlock during the Cultural revolution era in China.There is more depth in the movie than initially meets the eye. There were of course depictions of how the mother and child were ostracised, but the movie does not dwell on it. This is the time before China picked up in economic development and in the rural communities, the outdoor movie show was a big entertainment (but don't expect anything even remotely close to a drive-in). This becomes the element that integrates the entire movie, as most of the key events evolve around it. This is a happy time shared by mother and daughter. It is also where the mother meets Ling-ling's future step father, actually the owner of the modest outdoor movie "theatre". It's also where the friendship between Ling-ling and Xiaobing flourishes, as well as the scene of a tragedy later.This movie is surprisingly rich in contents. We first see how mother and child persevere, with dignity, through a hostile community. When things finally improve, to the extent of their general acceptance when the mother marries the kind man who has been treating them like family through Ling-ling's early childhood, thing take a turn. Although still a decent stepfather and a loving mother, the couple's attention understandably turns away from Ling-ling when they have their own little boy, a gentle soul. Ling-ling's resentment, however, is also understandable as the family's limited financial resources are dedicated to fulfilling her half-brother's dreams rather than her own.Although Mao Xaiobing is a key character and is one of Ling-ling's happiest memories from her childhood, he wanders into and out of her life almost nonchalantly. This is an interesting character in itself and reminds me of my summary line for "Nobody Knows" – "getting into the child's mind". When we first see him showing up in this rural town with his family, a trouble-making urchin and prankster with a perpetual idiotic smile on his face, we don't know if we should despise or merely dislike him. When we find out that beating from his ill-tempered coal-minor father is a normal daily occurrence, we start to have some pity for him. When later he becomes almost like family to Ling-ling and her mother and we find out that he can be courageous and considerate despite the rough edges developed for survival, we positively like him. But in Mao Xiaobing's own mind, he is probably neither an aggressor or a victim, because playing nasty trick on others and being beaten by his father are simply the ways of his daily existence, and he has never known any other.33-year-old director Xiao Jiang*, a good looking and intelligent looking woman, had wanted to be a diplomat, but finally told herself that such a job would stifle her creativity and instead went to study directing in the film academy of Beijing. This movie, her debut, has won her awards in China and Morocco (Marrakech).* "Jiang" is her family name (probably no relative of previous president Jiang Zemin). "Xiao", meaning "small", is not part of her name but a very common prefix widely used to indicate informality and familiarity – "Xiao Smith" would be something like "Smith, my boy".

TruthSpeaks This movie, also called "Meng Ying Tong Nian," is a drama set in Communist China. It should not be confused with another movie called "Electric Shadows" which is a documentary about Hong Kong cinema. Anyway, this movie was slow,depressing and dull. If anything good ever happened in Communist China, it never made its way onto a movie screen. If you've seen a lot of movies from Communist China, you've seen others like this. There's a child protagonist, dreary conditions, and a not quite poignant plot. Of course there are scattered acts of violence, repression and bullying. The boy-favoring ways of Chinese families rear their ugly heads.Although advertised as being similar to "Cinema Paradiso," it isn't in the same league. It has that depressing Chinese movie feeling. The many clips of old Chinese movies shown in it are dreary and unlikable themselves. The landscape and buildings are mostly depressing.In the end it picks up a little, but that doesn't redeem the movie. I consider myself to have been rooked into seeing this movie by the "Cinema Paradiso" comparison. The art movie theater in my town is empty most of the time. They need to stop lying to the customers. We'd come out to see the good art movies if we could tell which ones they were.

rbverhoef 'Electric Shadows' tells a story about a girl named Ling Ling and her friend Mao Dabing against the backdrop of the Cultural Revolution in China. The film starts with Dabing (Xia Yu), a teenager who loves movies, accidentally falling into a brick wall with his bicycle. The walls collapses, a girl picks up a brick and smashes Dabing on the head. Then the girl, who seems unable to speak, asks Dabing to feed her fish while she has to stay with the police. He agrees and in the girl's apartment he finds her diary, learning that she is indeed his old friend Ling Ling (Qi Zhongyang).While he is reading her story we see the images, starting with Ling Ling's mother, how she always wanted to be a famous actress or singer, how Ling Ling was born as an unwanted child, how her mother wanted to end her own life but due circumstances changes her mind. Ling Ling's mother becomes a caring mother who wants nothing but the best for her daughter. Dabing enters the story, at first a bully for Ling Ling but after a while they become best friends. In the meanwhile Ling Ling's mother spends a lot of time with Uncle Pan, the town's movie operator. This is of course where the kids find their love for the movies, and Ling Ling's mother finds the love for a new man.I should say nothing more about the story. We understand things will get complicated since Dabing and Ling Ling did not recognize each other when he was smacked with the brick. We also see that some terrible things must have happened to Ling Ling. All those things are for you to discover with this terrific film from first-time director Xiao Jiang. In a way this film is about loving movies, the way 'Cinema Paradiso' is that. The director told the audience that she was honored with this comparison, but it seems only right. 'Electric Shadows' is original in its own way, but shows a lot of older Chinese pictures, honoring them. The performances ask again for comparison with 'Cinema Paradiso'. The adults are good, especially Ling Ling's mother, but the child performers here are the best thing. The film shows them most of the time when they are around six years old. The way kids around that age say anything that comes to mind is perfectly portrayed here, with two effective kids for Ling Ling and Dabing. Much of the humor in the film comes from them and their moments together.Although the final moments of the film play in a conventional way the scenes work. Everything comes together, making 'Electric Shadows' a real finished picture, accessible for larger audiences than a lot of other Asian films. The film has its flaws. It shifts back and forth in time where it does not really have to, like the director just chose a couple of moments to do so. The same with the narration. Sometimes we hear Dabing and his life story, sometimes we hear him reading her diary, sometimes we hear Ling Ling herself like she is reading or writing her diary. Both things do not really matter, but show how hard it is to make the right choices, especially when you direct a film for the first time.