Rumours have been flying for a decade, now Wu Song returns
Re-reading noble aspirations from the hero’s diary
“Our entire generation is trapped by fate. We all share a troubled past…”
Do people still write diaries? Yes. It is rumoured that a Diary of Song has been circulating widely, that the author—Song—is both an intellectual and a warrior. He has a unique perspective recording the minute details of life. Not only did he once kill a tiger, he also hit flies, and every page of that diary is filled with blood and sweat. But now he is unemployed, peddling sesame cakes, witnessing all of life’s absurdities. Despite all that, he still possesses dreams, poetry and that vision of a faraway desert.
The Diary of Song premiered in 2017, receiving Best Original Script and Outstanding Production of the year at the 27th Hong Kong Drama Awards. Starting in 2022, its screen version has played in multiple cities, becoming a best-kept secret among theatre aficionados. This new version helmed by Poon Wai Sum assembles heroes from China’s great mountains, accompanied by Chan Wai Fat’s brand-new music and songs that capture their dilemma—whether to go forth or turn back—so aptly in words and in action, crafting a new classic of a movable diary.
