The shadow play is a typical traditional entertainment that has survived and thrived over the centuries. It is taken as an earliest ancestor of modern cinema.

Legend has it that more than 2,000 years ago, Emperor Wudi of the Western Han Dynasty was very depressed over the death of his favorite concubine (妃子). To help him get over his sadness, a minister made a puppet out of cotton and silk in the likeness of the concubine and projected its shadow on a curtain for the emperor to see. The show brought the emperor some comfort. He somehow believed the shadow was his lover’s spirit. This is thought to be the beginning of the shadow play.

One mouth tells stories of thousands of years; a pair of hands operates millions of soldiers. This is how the shadow puppeteer works. Nicknamed “the business of the five”, a shadow puppet group is made up of five people. One operates the puppets, one plays a Suona and a Yueqin, one plays the Banhu, one is in charge of percussion (打击乐器) instruments, and one sings.

During performances, “actors” are held close to a white curtain with their colored shadows cast on it by a strong light from behind. The operator plays five puppets at the same time, each of which has three threads. Ten fingers handle fifteen threads. Moved by guiding sticks, the puppets play roles with musical accompaniment. The popularity of shadow play in some way lies in the equipment being light and easy to carry, the small number of people needed for a performance, and the flexible requirements for performance places. The plays can be quite dramatic and, when it comes to fairy tales or kungfu stories, the “actors” may be made to ride on clouds or perform unusual feats, to the great enjoyment of the audience, especially children.

The design of the figures follows traditional moral evaluation. The audience can tell a figure’s character by seeing his mask. Like the masks in Beijing Opera, a red mask represents honesty, a black mask, loyalty, and a white one, betrayal.

Nowadays, the shadow play has been industrialized and developed a series of tourist products for the promotion of Chinese culture and tourism.

As the directorial work of comedy actress Jia Ling, the film is adapted from her 2016 sketch comedy of the same title. The film reflects on how she misses her late mother Li Huanying, who encouraged Jia to pursue her artistic dreams.

Interestingly, the way that Jia showcases her filial piety (孝心) is a bit special as she fictionalizes a time-travel story to tell her mother’s love story set in 1981.

The sudden shakeup reflects the extent to which Hi, Mom has become China’s clear favorite among the Lunar New Year offerings. Written, directed by and co-starring female filmmaker Jia Ling, Hi, Mom has received the best user review ratings by far of the seven films currently on release.

Thanks to Hi, Mom’s powerful performance to date, Jia is already China’s most commercially successful female filmmaker ever.

China’s New Year box office tends to reward titles with broad family appeal — and a little sadness rarely hurts. Hi, Mom appears to have hit all the right notes.

Hi, Mom should end up just over $400 million tonight. Where the film end up is an open question, but “above $750 million” seems to be pretty likely.

If Hi, Mom ends up above the $821 million global cume of Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, it’ll be the biggest grossing movie ever by a solo female director.