Our Shining Days (2017)

Charming and lively youth comedy set in a music school where classical Chinese music becomes a fun competitive battle.
A  town somewhere in China, Chen Jing, sophomore Chinese Music at Zhongxia  Academy of Music's Afiliative High School, sees the handsome classical  music student Wang Wen practicing on the piano and immediately falls in  love with him ... The film goes far beyond the novel, it teaches about Chinese music and  proper classical music in a rather energetic, rather entertaining, but  fun, youthful comedy driven by an animated performance by TV actress Xu  Lu.
The  film sustains its energy from a mass of small details and quirky ideas,  beginning with the two music departments being so hostile to each other  that they are separated by an iron gate in the same building. An innovative film full of energy and innovative ideas that is worth watching.

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Overall
Note: I haven’t read the novel this is based on, simply commenting on the film as a single entity.

Story 9.0
I like the idea of old meets new, battle of this vs. that, but in the end they meet in the middle and peace comes over. A dying art, should be cared for by all, both new and old. The instruments melding together was perfect. The only thing lacking I found was the romance line, was predictable. I found myself wanting the plot line to be excluded from this film and focus on the rivalry.

Acting/Cast 9.5
The cast didn’t bother me when it came to acting. It thought that the lead, Xu Lu, did a good job. I couldn’t really think of an actress who could replace her. It’s not the best emotional acting, but the story and plot line doesn’t really call for it. The comedy part really shined for everyone.

Music 10
I don’t really know much about music. I am more of a costume person, but the music in this really was amazing. The battle scene, the last song, everything was so well done, that I couldn’t fathom not giving it a 10. Because this plot follows heavily on music, It was really well done. I even found myself loving some of the classical chinese instruments amazing and trying to find instrumental recordings to listen to. Job well done!

Re:watch Value 8.5
I honestly would watch it over again. I think I would get tired of the story plot after a few watches, but I could watch the battle scene everyday for the rest of my life and never tire of it. The plot line can be repetitive, but the music is beyond interesting to me.

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