In 1987 he adapted the novel Osmanthus Alley for the screen. It describes a woman who had a line in her palm that foretold her husband would die young, and her relationships with four men. After completing the script, Wu Nien-chen wrote in Taiwanese the lyrics to its theme song: "Brooding on My Fate."
七十六年，改編自小說《桂花巷》的電影，描述一個斷掌女子和生命中四位男人的故事，完成劇本，他也包辦電影插曲的閩南語歌詞：「想我一生的運命」。