Like Cinema Paradiso, Electric Shadows traces a childhood love of movies to an empty adulthood. Told through a series of flashbacks and set against China's Cultural Revolution, the film begins with a delivery boy being knocked unconscious by a brick-wielding mute girl. After she is arrested, she hands her victim her house keys and a note, asking him to feed her fish. At her apartment, he uncovers the story of a fatherless girl, who spent her youth watching movies on a makeshift outdoor movie screen with her mom and her only friend, an abused little boy. The payoff is every bit as emotional as Paradiso's.
Thu., April 27, 9:15 p.m.; Sat., April 29, 5:30 p.m.
© 2024 Cleveland Scene
