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Shadow Magic
Sony Pictures Classics

Shadow Magic reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 66 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
6.5 out of 10
based on 22 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 4 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: PG for brief mild language

Starring Jared Harris, Xia Yu, Lu Peiqi, Lu Liping, Xing Xufei, and Wang Jingming

Set in 1902, this comedy centers around the arrival of a Westerner who introduces silent films to Imperial Peking.


GENRE(S): Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Ann Hu  
DIRECTED BY: Ann Hu  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: September 11, 2001 
Video: September 11, 2001 
Theatrical: April 6, 2001 
RUNNING TIME: 112 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN:  
LANGUAGE(S): Chinese (with English subtitles) with some English 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

90
Washington Post Stephen Hunter
Sumptuous, warm, continually amazing, it's a completely enjoyable couple of hours at the flickers.
Read Full Review
88
New York Daily News Jack Mathews
A movie-movie about the movies.
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88
Miami Herald Curtis Morgan
Rising above simple sentiment to explore class differences and the enduring clash between East and West with wit and wisdom.
83
Portland Oregonian Barry Johnson
The re-creation of early 20th-century Beijing is dense and loving, and Hu shows just as much affection for the people who start to trickle into the shabby little cinema.
80
Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
It's a film about culture clash, the generation gap and the loss of tradition that inevitably accompanies the arrival of anything new.
Read Full Review
75
Boston Globe Jay Carr
Shadow Magic isn't interested in psychology or character study. It's a series of tableaux and on that level succeeds admirably.
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Never quite builds the compulsive emotional power it needs to be an unforgettable personal drama.
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75
Philadelphia Inquirer Desmond Ryan
Transports us to a world that still had a capacity for awe, and that's the core of its charm.
75
Chicago Tribune Loren King
Succeeds as a paean to movies and movie-watching.
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70
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Evokes the dawn of cinema in China with much charm, humor and subtlety.
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70
Film.com Robert Horton
Has a real sense of the wonder of the early years.
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70
The New York Times Dana Stevens
Gentle and easy to take.
Read Full Review
68
Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard
Plays like a Chinese "Cinema Paradiso," full of feeling without succumbing to sentimentality.
Read Full Review
67
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
The most delightful segments are those which observe new audiences experiencing the motion picture phenomenon.
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63
USA Today Mike Clark
The story doesn't exactly startle with surprises and has a tendency to hammer and rehammer its points.
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63
New York Post Jonathan Foreman
Often charming and sweet, and always prettily photographed.
60
LA Weekly Paul Malcolm
Shadow Magic is rich with detail.
Read Full Review
60
New Times (L.A.) Andy Klein
Hu has crafted a charming and modest movie.
Read Full Review
50
San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann
A pleasant but conventional film.
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50
TV Guide Ken Fox
Unfortunately, Hu and her army of co-writers saddle the story with a tired romantic subplot and fail to develop meaningful characters.
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50
Village Voice Amy Taubin
Properly picturesque but lacks subtlety and substance in blending Chinese and Western history, ideas, and cinematic conventions.
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50
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie is more concerned with the story line (premiere-fire-threat-rescue) than with painting the time and place.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 6.5 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Antal Z. gave it a9:
Simple story has drama and humor in equal doses. Beautifully photographed and well acted. All in all, it's a charming little movie that provides (almost) two hours of first class entertainment.

Chad S. gave it a 7:
"Shadow Magic" could've been overblown, a movie, in which the Beijing opera players and still photographers, set out to destroy the westerner's movie equipment as a way of preserving their respective livelihoods. Since Chinese film has such a rich history, the right choice is made to show the advent of film exhibitionism as a cause for celebration, but the acceptance of Shadow Magic should've been preceded by a little more resistance. In particular, Ling (Xing Yufei), the daughter of a great opera star, who sells out her father by romancing Liu (Xia Yu), a boy who loves new inventions more than old traditions. You have to accept the film's license to be nostalgic, as it wants us to believe that a foreigner like Raymond (Jared Harris) wouldn't be more aggressive about amassing a fortune. But "Shadow Magic" works if you like movie history, because the first-hand accounts of how patrons reacted to this new entertainment comes alive on the screen as it's described in books.

Victor Y. gave it a 10:
Accurate, believable, and interesting.

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