Shadow Magic Trivia Quiz

Answer: Filmed and produced in China

That's right, 'Shadow Magic' is a Chinese film directed by Ann Hu.

Answer: Beijing, 1902

In the movie, Raymond calls the city Peking, the old western name of Beijing.

Answer: He is the master photographer at a photo shop.

Ren JingFeng's photo shop is more of a portrait studio than the kind of establishment we know as a photo shop today - in 1902 there just weren't so many people needing rolls of films developed. It is the task of Liu Jinglun to make the customers look good for posterity.

Answer: Western gadgets

Liu spends so much time fiddling with such devices as the phonograph that he is often late for work. He keeps his job only because his boss, Master Ren, is a good friend of Liu and his father.

Answer: salesman, usher and troubleshooter

Despite his near-total inability to speak Mandarin, Raymond Wallace had been confident that he could persuade the locals to pay for an unknown spectacle. Liu, desperately curious about the mechanics of film, stands outside and begins hawking the virtues of Shadow Magic, providing Raymond with his first paying audience.

He remains to reassure the audience during the more startling parts of the film (remember,t his is the first movie they've ever seen or heard of) and even provides an emergency mirror (to reflect sunlight) when the light source for the projector goes dead.

He then persuades Raymond to hire him - Liu speaks English far better than Raymond does Mandarin.

Answer: montage of unrelated Western film clips

The scenes, taken from early 1890's shorts by the Lumiere brothers, include people on a crowded street; parents feeding a baby; a troupe of female acrobats; and a train pulling into a station.

Answer: yes

Their shy flirtations are a treat to watch.

Answer: Widow Jiang

The Widow Jiang takes a shine to Liu after he takes her picture at the photo shop, which he'd kept as a day job even after beginning work for Shadow Magic. Incidentally, the Kung family, as direct descendants of Kung Fu-tzu (Confucius), has the longest and most complete family tree in the world.

Answer: Lord Tan is an opera singer, and Shadow Magic is his biggest competition.

'Shadow Magic' tries to address the problem of Western cultural traditions beginning to replace their Chinese equivalents. In this case the consequences are unintended, but on many occasions the imposition of Western culture was deliberate. Either way, of course, local resentment - as is displayed in the later scenes of the movie - was also very real.

Answer: Both businesses are invited to participate in the Dowager Empress's birthday celebration.

Shadow Magic is invited by the British Ambassador to help entertain the Dowager Empress at her birthday. In preparation for this - and in celebration of their budding friendship - Raymond and Liu spend hours filming Chinese scenes to replace the Western ones.

In order to do this, however, Liu must take time off from Master Ren's studio, and lies that his father is ill. When Master Ren finds out - just after learning that the Dowager Empress would like her photograph taken for her birthday - he fires Liu.

Answer: A white European-style suit

The gift doesn't work out well, though: the other audience members at Lord Tan's performance accuse Liu of selling out and becoming a Westerner, and he and Raymond are forcibly ejected. Liu's sense of shame and humiliation builds.

Answer: The projector explodes and sets fire to the building.

Though the Dowager Empress is evacuated and no one is killed or even hurt (except for Liu, who is injured by the explosion), this disaster is treated by Imperial officials as an assassination attempt.

Answer: Raymond is expelled from China, and Liu is given the movie equipment

Initially, officials had wanted to execute them both - but after an impassioned plea from Lord Tan (at the urging of his daughter), they are spared. Liu is given the movie equipment in hopes that he will be able to help advance China technologically.

Answer: true

Liu displays his and Raymond's films of China to a packed audience, after his father (who had disowned him) sacrifices his eyeglasses in the name of a movie projector lens. The crowd is awed and the movie ends on a note of hope.

Answer: False

Although the movie is based on a true story - that is, the broadest outline of the introduction of film to China - it isn't based on any one, specific true story within the broader tale. There were many Westerners who showed up in China with film equipment, but none of their names survived. Raymond and Liu are archetypes, supposed to be representative of the broader trend; they were never real individuals.