This film is great at presenting fascinating characters, but fails to weave them into a compelling narrative. The film begins by introducing an instantly attractive protagonist, a movie addicted water delivery boy. He is abruptly introduced to the feminine lead through the most original device of her attacking him with a brick. Subsequently he gains access to the woman's life story, and then the film becomes a journey through her past, with the ultimate goal of discovering what could have provoked the attack. It is true that both his attacker and her beautiful, would be actress mother are intriguing characters, but their stories are little more than a series of unrelated personal disasters, bound together only by nostalgia for a supposedly golden era of Chinese Communist propaganda films, as presented through the magical medium of outdoor cinema. If this filmmaker could craft plots nearly as skillfully as he does characters, he would be well on his way to greatness.
Review of Electric Shadows
