Based on the Hollywood film Love Me or Leave Me (1955), this is a fascinating portrait of love and career, fame and power. Fong Yim-fun plays an opera aficionado who yearns for stardom. In a fashion highly atypical of Cantonese cinema, she tries to accomplish that by exploiting a mob boss's fascination with her, playing him like a sap, only to find herself unable to escape his domineering and obsessive control... Tso Kea depicts this crazed relationship brilliantly, striking a balance between extreme emotions and subtle sentiments. Ng Cho-fan offers a grippingly expansive performance, and Fong counters with an understated but equally riveting turn. The Sorrowful Lute also features an interesting look into the rooftop entertainment scene of Guangzhou.

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