a beautiful film about the come of early silent cinema to china . shadow magic deftly combine a love story with the drama of the cultural clash between china ancient tradition and modern western culture in the form of film . an amazing first film by chinese director ann hu . if i correctly understood ms. hu comment at the 2000 sundance festival and this film be produce a an american film with co funding by the chinese government and and shot in china . shadow magic remind me of film like il postino and cinema paradiso not necessarily in theme or plot and but it have a similar feel .