Movie Review for Shadow Magic

Summary: Beijing, 1902. While Master Ren, owner of the Feng Tai Photo Shop, prepares for a formal portrait of China's most famous opera star, Lord Tan, Tan's daughter Ling exchanges furtive glances with Ren's chief photographer, Liu. Meanwhile a foreigner named Raymond Wallace hopes to make a fortune with a crude movie theater he names Shadow Magic. Liu's fascination with useless and disapproved foreign gadgetry leads him into a double life working for both Ren and Wallace.

                         Reviews of Shadow Magic
By Ryan Cracknell of Apollo Guide (7/0)
            In her debut film, director and producer Ann Hu creates a beautiful world with strong characters,...

By Marjorie Baumgarten of Austin Chronicle (7/0)
            A sweet evocation of a world on the verge of change.

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (7/0)
            Why not trust the subject matter instead of shaping it all to fit a formula?

By Harvey S. Karten of Compuserve (7/0)
            A thrilling experience, a history lesson for those who don't like history as well as those who ar...

By David Noh of Film Journal International (7/0)
            The characters are wholly lacking in any real depth, each possessing but a single scripted person...

By Rachel Gordon of filmcritic.com (7/0)
            A feel-good movie that's easy to enjoy.

                         Reviews of Shadow Magic
By Ross Anthony of Hollywood Report Card (7/0)
            The film is as charming as Liu's smile.

By Steve Rhodes of Internet Reviews (7/0)
            Effectively reminds us how revolutionary some of today's gadgets were just a century ago.

By Frank Swietek of One Guy's Opinion (7/0)
            A valentine to motion pictures and a celebration of friendships crossing national and ethnic line...

By Jeanne Aufmuth of Palo Alto Weekly (7/0)
            resonates with modern values but maintains its old world charm

By Cynthia Fuchs of Philadelphia City Paper (7/0)
            Charming if sometimes clumsy.

By Tor Thorsen of Reel.com (7/0)
            It's predictable, sentimental, and more than a little nostalgic. Yet it's also quite endearing, g...

                         Reviews of Shadow Magic
By Jim Lane of Sacramento News & Review (7/0)
            Hu's affection is contagious, and there are wonderful moments.

By Edward Guthmann of San Francisco Chronicle (7/0)
            A pleasant but conventional.

By William Arnold of Seattle Post-Intelligencer (7/0)
            The film never quite builds the compulsive emotional power it needs to be an unforgettable person...

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat of Spirituality and Practice (7/0)
            A delightful tribute to the marvels and the magic of cinema.

By Ken Fox of TV Guide's Movie Guide (7/0)
            It's a shame that it has to be burdened with such a tepid plot.

By Amy Taubin of Village Voice (7/0)
            Properly picturesque but lacks subtlety and substance in blending Chinese and Western history, id...

                         Reviews of Shadow Magic
By Michael O'Sullivan of Washington Post (7/0)
            It's a film about film, and Hu's love of the medium's storytelling power shines through every fra...

By Stephen Hunter of Washington Post (7/0)
            Sumptuous, warm, continually amazing, it's a completely enjoyable couple of hours at the flickers...

By A. O. Scott of New York Times (3/5) Login Required (Login Required)
            Gentle and easy to take.

By David Germain of Associated Press (3/4) No reference
            A sweet, sumptuous sonnet to film and its universal lure.

By Kevin Courrier of Boxoffice Magazine (3/4) No reference
            Obviously a labor of love for the director, but it fails to stoke imagination.

By Loren King of Chicago Tribune (3/4) No reference
            Gives us a glimpse of what it must have been like to be mesmerized and seduced by images that sti...

                         Reviews of Shadow Magic
By Arne Johnson of Citysearch (3/4) No reference
            Hu seems content to make a rather quaint historical object and bathe it in a golden, nostalgic gl...

By Jeff Vice of Deseret News, Salt Lake City (6/1) No reference
            Despite the fact that it's occasionally corny, Shadow Magic is also so low-key and so charming th...

By Dave White of IFilm (3/4) No reference
            Interesting story. Too bad this movie takes that premise and purees it into a mushy East-meets-We...

By Kevin Thomas of Los Angeles Times (3/4) No reference
            Evokes the dawn of cinema in China with much charm, humor and subtlety.

By Chuck Rudolph of Matinee Magazine (3/4) No reference
            What makes Shadow Magic a mixed bag, both emotionally and thematically, is its burden of debt to ...

By Kevin Maynard of Mr. Showbiz (3/4) No reference
            Plays like a Chinese Cinema Paradiso, full of feeling without succumbing to sentimentality.

                         Reviews of Shadow Magic
By Jonathan Foreman of New York Post (3/4) No reference
            The film is often charming and sweet.

By Jan Stuart of Newsday (3/4) No reference
            Jared Harris and Xia Yu give appealingly energetic performances.

By Barry Johnson of Oregonian (3/4) No reference
            Xia gives Jinglun an earnest likability.

By Joe Baltake of Sacramento Bee (3/4) No reference
            Some of the hostile reactions to Wallace and his movie machine may seem heavy-handed, but the fil...

By David Elliott of San Diego Union-Tribune (3/4) No reference
            There is, alas, quite a lot of pidgin drama and comedy.

By Chris Hewitt (St. Paul) of St. Paul Pioneer Press (3/4) No reference
            What an unremarkable movie this is.

Movie Distributors
Sony Pictures Classics

Production Companies
Road Movies Vierte Producktion
C&A Productions
Beijing Film Studio
China Film Group Corp.
Schulberg Productions

Movie Studios