The Lyricist Wannabe

2024 1h 50m CN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 7

DramaMusic

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Believing that writing Cantopop is her God-given talent, Law Wing-sze decides to make it her lifelong career. But as hard as Sze tries to polish her lyric-writing skills and expand her social circle, nothing seems to go her way. What if there’s a will, but there’s no way?

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Chung Suet-Ying
Law Wing-sze
Amy Tang Lai-Ying
Maru
Sabrina Ng
Anson Chan
Mak
Eric Kot Man-Fai
Law's Father
Luna Shaw
Law's Mother
Ernest Poon
Law's Brother
Tommy Chu Pak-Hong
Lo Sir

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Norris Wong Yee-Lam
Writers: Norris Wong Yee-Lam
Languages: Cantonese, Mandarin
Countries: Hong Kong, Taiwan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 2 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Cantonese, Mandarin.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Hong Kong, Taiwan.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

AWARDS

Did you know

Directed by Norris Wong Yee-Lam, shot by Pong Ho-Wai. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

AWARDS

Did you know

Original score by Wong Kin-Wai. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Peter Chung Ka Chun shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Chung Suet-Ying and Amy Tang Lai-Ying and Sabrina Ng carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt31159533 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Norris Wong Yee-Lam directs. Pong Ho-Wai behind the camera. Wong Kin-Wai scores. Peter Chung Ka Chun cuts. Produced in Hong Kong, Taiwan. Dialogue in Cantonese, Mandarin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 2 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Cantonese, Mandarin.
3International production across 2 countries: Hong Kong, Taiwan.
4Directed by Norris Wong Yee-Lam, shot by Pong Ho-Wai. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Wong Kin-Wai. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Peter Chung Ka Chun shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Chung Suet-Ying and Amy Tang Lai-Ying and Sabrina Ng carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt31159533 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 7 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Pong Ho-Wai
Original score: Wong Kin-Wai
Editing: Peter Chung Ka Chun
Runtime: 110 min · 1h 50m
Status: Released
Original language: CN
Certification (US): 12A
IMDB: The Lyricist Wannabe (2024)

Also by

Norris Wong Yee-Lam

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-03-17
★ 7/10
Though it does labour the joke a little after a while, this is actually quite a fun story about a tenacious young student who is determined to be a lyricist. Despite the fact that her teacher (Pak Hon Chu) claims nobody ever makes money writing songs (he's clearly never heard of Don Black, or Sir Tim Rice or Bernie Taupin!), and the fact that she cannot actually read music, she perseveres. She's not having much luck though - most of her work ends up being "off-melody" - with some quite hilariously double-entendre consequences, but "Sze" (Suet-Ying Chung) is determined. Now it doesn't really help the gist of this that many of her rhymes go to prove the obvious point that English, Cantonese and Mandarin have completely different tones and rhyming points - and that means that sometimes the subtitled versions of her lyrics are borderline surreal. They don't scan in the slightest in just about any language and her attempts to find a musician and/or singer to work with just seem doomed to failure. She's persistent, though, and as the years go by she does just about everything to convince the record industry that her's is a skill they want! This works quite well at engagingly poking fun at the whole songwriting business. The haphazard way in which things work - or don't, the sheer luck involved, good looks, face fits, back-stabbing and well, you have to feel just a bit sorry for her long suffering boyfriend "Zeke" (Yukki Tai) and, for that matter, her easy on the eye chanteur "Mak" (Anson Chan) who constantly vacillates between encouraging and placating her somewhat erratic passion. It's a story about a dream (and for a listening audience - a nightmare) and is quite enjoyable to watch.

Production companies