[Entertainer]”Lyrics L” A rare surprise
After watching the movie “Lyrics”, I found a rare thing and a surprise. What’s rare is that it’s director Huang Qilin, and what’s surprising is that it’s the heroine Chung Xueying.
“Lyrics L” is Huang Qilin’s second film. She directed “Golden City” for the first time in 2019, which won her the Best New Director at the Hong Kong Film Awards that year. She later filmed the Netflix Taiwanese drama “This Time”. Two episodes of “The Moment”. “Lyrics L” comes from her own experience, which she once wrote into a novel, telling the story of her determination to be a lyricist since she was a child. In recent years, many new directors in Hong Kong have received funding from the “First Film Storytelling Program” to make their first feature films. However, there have been very few directors who have been able to make second films over the years. Huang Qilin is the second person to have gone through this program. , a director who has successfully made his second feature film ready for release.
Huang Qilin’s “Lyrics L” did not have investment from a big company. The funds came from herself and producer Huang Qi. Due to tight costs, it could only be shot for 15 days, and the shooting time spanned intermittently for a year. Therefore, it is rare for “Lyrics” to be successfully filmed, but this is certainly not the reason for the audience to come to the theater.
“Lyrics L” is Huang Qilin’s second film, and her first directorial debut in 2019, “Jindu”
The rare thing about “Lyrics L” is that this drama is very different from the “four-character movies” produced by new Hong Kong directors in recent years. The themes of “four-character movies” mostly involve social issues, such as “A Thought of No Name”, “Drifting in Turbid Waters”, “Narrow” “Lu Mochen”, “Youth Diary” and “Under the Sun” have heavy tones, and their themes are mostly about the discord between two generations, atonement or running away. However, Huang Qilin’s first film “Golden City” looked at marriage and female independence from the perspective of a new generation of women. In this time’s “Lyrics L”, the theme discussed is the pursuit of dreams. Regardless of the theme and the tone and atmosphere of the film, it is consistent with Generally speaking, the styles of four-character films produced by new Hong Kong directors are completely different.
The so-called difference does not mean high or low, but “L” shows the diversity that Hong Kong films should have. After watching too many movies with the same style and theme, it is inevitable that there will be a feeling of repetition. I have watched “Diary of a Youth” and “Daytime”. “Under”, and then look at Huang Qimenglin’s “L”, I feel a sense of sudden enlightenment. Different style, but equally beautiful.
The first half of the movie “Lyrics L” tells the campus life of the protagonist Zhong Xueying and the process of learning to write lyrics. It is an alternative comedy style that has been lost for a long time in Hong Kong movies. It is a bit off beat, not the kind that makes you laugh, a bit like Wilson Yip’s “Lyrics L” “Misleading Children”, but this time the story is told from the perspective of students. Chung Xueying has a good rapport with Wu Bing and Liying, who play classmates, and Ge Minhui, who plays the father, and Ernest, who plays the elder brother, also share a sense of joy. The funniest one is Zhu Baikang, who plays the lyrics class teacher, and the most hilarious scenes all come from him.
Chung Xueying is definitely a dark horse actress.
“Ci L” is not about social issues, but about pursuing dreams from an individual’s point of view. The structure is from small to large, using small things to talk about big principles. It takes courage to chase dreams, and even greater courage to let go. The first half of the movie is light and funny, but in the second half, after leaving school, Chung Xueying only wanted to be a lyricist, determined to pursue her dream, and traveled from Hong Kong to Taiwan. During this period, she kept encountering the reality that the real world was a huge wall that she could not cross. , no matter how hard we try, we can’t beat the ruthless reality. “Lyrics L” does not praise blind passion. It is not a dream-come-true story of “where there is a will, things come true.” “Lyrics L” reminds the audience that there are thousands of dream chasers in the world, and only a few succeed. We must Have the courage to accept failure. The most exciting thing is that at the end of the movie, there is a twisting bridge, telling everyone that hard work will not be wasted, and the seeds planted will one day bear fruit, which you may or may not see.
Chung Xueying’s performance in “Lyrics L” is really surprising. Her previous performance in “Beyond Dusk” was not very eye-catching. But this time she plays the main heroine in “Lyrics L”. She plays the role from beginning to end, and the role has difficulty in changing. She is an ignorant female student at the beginning, and then encounters setbacks when she enters society. It is rare that Zhong Xueying can grasp it and play the role. He is very energetic and can perform both comedy and inner drama. She was nominated for the Best Actress at the Taiwan Golden Horse Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards. This is not luck at all, but a matter of course.
“Lyrics” by Zhong Xueying
“Beyond Dusk” by Chung Xueying
Guo Jingyan
I have worked in a record company, a movie company, a newspaper and a magazine, and now I focus on entertainment full time and write about entertainment seriously.
