I stumbled upon this chinese movie by accident and was quite positively surprised how compelling the storytelling was, and all the comedic quirks and oddities worked really well and were on point. It's style can be described as close to watching an japanese anime and there are references to japanese manga/anime subculture which is hilarious well portrayed, but doesnt get tacky or over the top, this is due to the actors who played out their roles convincingly well. This movie is fun, upbeat, touches the emotion and is a overall feel good movie!
8 Reviews
Our Shining Days (2017): A Refreshing Chinese Musical Teen-Comedy Movie
Rifat_Sharna23 October 2017
If you liked Taiwanese hit teen-romance-comedy "Our Times (2015) & Japanese teen-musical film "Swing Girls (2004)" previously, this movie would be your cup of tea! Actually it's kinda blend of those two movies- if you look at our nerd heroine and then the plot about forming a traditional musical band of college students overcoming obstacles and prejudices, it will be so obvious. The plot is predictable and sometimes a bit cheesy too- you must know the outcome of clash between traditional Chinese music and western music in a Chinese movie! Yet, the movie's just refreshing- our heroine really did good job in portraying her comic and emotional character-thumbs up!And the other side characters were also well-acted, cinematography is well-done too- sometimes eye-soothing, even some animation works can be found within this movie. And about music section- you won't expect any better from college students and the scenes portraying rivalry & playing all those traditional and western instruments were done very realistically. So when you feel dull and dizzy in midst of monotonous life and cringe for some comic relief, a good-innocent teenage movie to enjoy at a stretch, just go for it! :)
A cute movie
bcampbell-258-9117404 March 2018
Worth the watch, not a LOT of traditional though
the_doofy15 June 2019
It was really nice watching something with teen age girls that was not focused on rebellion, cussing, drugs and sex
This movie has 2 focuses, one it does well, one it should have done better in
The first focus is the respect and reverence that China has for its heritage, everyone in the world knows China has more of this than anywhere else, the movie did a pretty decent job of conveying this in terms of its musical heritage
However, most of the music in this movie is modern, even to the point of covering up the training and practice sessions with ancient Chinese instruments in the movie with elevator music
There was once when a harp and an ancient Chinese instrument were dueling, I could of listened to this for an hour, it was too brief. There was not much given to us in terms of real time music with these ancient Chinese instruments, even though that was the focus.
MORE ancient Chinese cultural immersion please with the real instruments being played, and not a LOT of elevator music.
This movie has 2 focuses, one it does well, one it should have done better in
The first focus is the respect and reverence that China has for its heritage, everyone in the world knows China has more of this than anywhere else, the movie did a pretty decent job of conveying this in terms of its musical heritage
However, most of the music in this movie is modern, even to the point of covering up the training and practice sessions with ancient Chinese instruments in the movie with elevator music
There was once when a harp and an ancient Chinese instrument were dueling, I could of listened to this for an hour, it was too brief. There was not much given to us in terms of real time music with these ancient Chinese instruments, even though that was the focus.
MORE ancient Chinese cultural immersion please with the real instruments being played, and not a LOT of elevator music.
Fun, Funny, & Inspiring
landifarnsworth14 July 2018
It's a show for teens but it's very well done and has a good message. Remember that it wasn't produced for a western audience, it's for an Eastern audience. That doesn't diminish it at all but I say that so you'll realize there are a lot of cultural differences, and that adds to it's charm. Highly recommended.
Must see if you love music, funny & youth
xenoknight8 March 2019
Very good movie and especially Chinese folk music in this movie is sooooo sooooo good. I'm fan of Zither sound and after watching movie, I rewinded to performances and listen again and again.
Other things like high school friendship, funny, inspirational, giving knowledge about Chinese musical instruments.
Only thing downside is few things in last performance (you'll see for yourself). Apart from that, this movie is very fun to watch.
Other things like high school friendship, funny, inspirational, giving knowledge about Chinese musical instruments.
Only thing downside is few things in last performance (you'll see for yourself). Apart from that, this movie is very fun to watch.
Cute, fun and emotional movie
Snootz28 May 2020
This movie is cute, fun, emotional... and predictable.
The rivalry between the western and eastern style music students, exacerbated by the incompetent staff, is a good foundation for the story. The individual characters are enjoyable, especially the 2nd Dimension group; straight out of a manga and well-portrayed. I especially enjoyed the character that didn't have a line in the whole movie, but played one of the main supportive parts.
The movie fell apart for me a bit near the end. It started with the well-known separated-by-bars competition that is shown on YouTube (which I imagine is what brings most people to watch this movie). To be honest, I didn't see a clear distinction of a "winner" there; both sides did equally well. So that bit of directing started somewhat of a downhill slide. Add to it that I could think of a far better, more cooperative end musical presentation that was more in line with the overall theme, and well, there was room for improvement. But that's okay.
I didn't mind the fanciful holographic projections in the performance, because the Chinese and Japanese are masters at mid-air holographic technology, projecting 30 foot Vocaloids in the middle of a crowd or having tigers running down the middle of a shopping mall. However, it was unnecessary, was a bit jump-the-shark, and the addition of two very-out-of-place electric guitars to the mix just pushed it that much farther... which is why I gave this 8 stars rather than 10. It was a good movie; the director just went off track a bit in the last 15 minutes or so. The focus should have remained on blending Eastern instruments and music down to the very end... and perhaps even blending the two methods into a harmonious whole. But bringing in two overdrive electric guitars out of nowhere into a traditional orchestra did not well-accomplish that concept.
So overall, a good movie that could have had a better final presentation. If someone wanted to be critical and focus on flaws they would have valid reason to do so-- if we're to take a manga-movie all that seriously. But as it stands it is well worth watching and enjoyable overall. Probably wouldn't mind watching it again, which for me is high praise for any movie.
The rivalry between the western and eastern style music students, exacerbated by the incompetent staff, is a good foundation for the story. The individual characters are enjoyable, especially the 2nd Dimension group; straight out of a manga and well-portrayed. I especially enjoyed the character that didn't have a line in the whole movie, but played one of the main supportive parts.
The movie fell apart for me a bit near the end. It started with the well-known separated-by-bars competition that is shown on YouTube (which I imagine is what brings most people to watch this movie). To be honest, I didn't see a clear distinction of a "winner" there; both sides did equally well. So that bit of directing started somewhat of a downhill slide. Add to it that I could think of a far better, more cooperative end musical presentation that was more in line with the overall theme, and well, there was room for improvement. But that's okay.
I didn't mind the fanciful holographic projections in the performance, because the Chinese and Japanese are masters at mid-air holographic technology, projecting 30 foot Vocaloids in the middle of a crowd or having tigers running down the middle of a shopping mall. However, it was unnecessary, was a bit jump-the-shark, and the addition of two very-out-of-place electric guitars to the mix just pushed it that much farther... which is why I gave this 8 stars rather than 10. It was a good movie; the director just went off track a bit in the last 15 minutes or so. The focus should have remained on blending Eastern instruments and music down to the very end... and perhaps even blending the two methods into a harmonious whole. But bringing in two overdrive electric guitars out of nowhere into a traditional orchestra did not well-accomplish that concept.
So overall, a good movie that could have had a better final presentation. If someone wanted to be critical and focus on flaws they would have valid reason to do so-- if we're to take a manga-movie all that seriously. But as it stands it is well worth watching and enjoyable overall. Probably wouldn't mind watching it again, which for me is high praise for any movie.
Cultural mixed with great music concepts and ideas
freddysanjaya22 March 2022
Bring back good old days in high school and very good if you like music or even play an instrument.
(There is my critique in the scene but it contains no spoiler)
The movie depicts a very youth of school's life and combine with music and little bit of romantic 'sugar' on top. There is a plot that looks too good to be true but I can relate how high school students can do extreme things like that, like all we (hope) did - in my experiences I did a cross-line things but that is something that I always cherished for in life. That's why the title really represents the movie at all.
Starting with Chen Jing as a main character, a simple girl with a hopeful romantic. The story goes very generally like how a young girl who eager to get Wang Wen's heart as it is expected to be a youth movie I try to enjoy every single of it and not trying to predict it. Perhaps few people might have 'struggle time' watching this because of the '2 dimensional' thing, but that is one part of the youth that not many people notice resembles as a freedom or I can say a sweet escape for their world.
The climax scene is very on point and I know this movie because I saw the battle scene on the internet. I felt that at the end of the scene can be improved somehow, when they played that music I as the audience want to know more and can be related with it: why they chose that song with the great philosophy that audience can understand, it could make a powerful ending. And although that last one scene is very insane to be true, I think that is possible thing that young students can do. But as results they can get arrested tho hahaha.
I would recommend to people who enjoy music and want to know about little bit culture of music from China. It is splendid to understand a bit about it after watch film. And I would like to praise Wang Ran as the director of this amazing idea and concept, bring culture and music at the same time in film, and also nostalgia about youth. After watch this, I really want to re-learn and play my music instrument, haha. And there is potential of this movie can be continued but I would suggest to make it as a TV series, because the depth of the characters and the culture musics can be dig dive. For examples, the next generation of the characters or continuing the third year of their high school. As far as I remember like anime from K-ON!
(There is my critique in the scene but it contains no spoiler)
The movie depicts a very youth of school's life and combine with music and little bit of romantic 'sugar' on top. There is a plot that looks too good to be true but I can relate how high school students can do extreme things like that, like all we (hope) did - in my experiences I did a cross-line things but that is something that I always cherished for in life. That's why the title really represents the movie at all.
Starting with Chen Jing as a main character, a simple girl with a hopeful romantic. The story goes very generally like how a young girl who eager to get Wang Wen's heart as it is expected to be a youth movie I try to enjoy every single of it and not trying to predict it. Perhaps few people might have 'struggle time' watching this because of the '2 dimensional' thing, but that is one part of the youth that not many people notice resembles as a freedom or I can say a sweet escape for their world.
The climax scene is very on point and I know this movie because I saw the battle scene on the internet. I felt that at the end of the scene can be improved somehow, when they played that music I as the audience want to know more and can be related with it: why they chose that song with the great philosophy that audience can understand, it could make a powerful ending. And although that last one scene is very insane to be true, I think that is possible thing that young students can do. But as results they can get arrested tho hahaha.
I would recommend to people who enjoy music and want to know about little bit culture of music from China. It is splendid to understand a bit about it after watch film. And I would like to praise Wang Ran as the director of this amazing idea and concept, bring culture and music at the same time in film, and also nostalgia about youth. After watch this, I really want to re-learn and play my music instrument, haha. And there is potential of this movie can be continued but I would suggest to make it as a TV series, because the depth of the characters and the culture musics can be dig dive. For examples, the next generation of the characters or continuing the third year of their high school. As far as I remember like anime from K-ON!
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
