The English title of the film is the literal translation for the Chinese term for movies or "dian ying" (電影).

The film was produced by mainland China's Beijing Dadi Century and Hong Kong's Happy Pictures Culture Communication Company.

[1][2][3] Mao Xiaobing (Xia Yu), a water bottle delivery boy in Beijing, loves to watch movies.

One day, however, while riding his bike, he is attacked by Ling-Ling (Qi Zhongyang), a disturbed young woman, that lands him in the hospital.

Upon entering her apartment, however, Mao Xiaobing finds that Ling-Ling has created a veritable shrine to the 1930s film star, Zhou Xuan.

When he stumbles upon her diary and begins reading, the film flashes back to Ling-Ling's mother as a young woman in Ningxia.

One critic praises that the film "Refreshingly... doesn't adopt a patronizing tone toward either the period or the movies, nor become embroiled in the politics.

[2] Electric Shadows was released in the United States and Canada on July 25, 2006 on Region 1 DVD by First Run Features.