The Farewell
The Farewell’s tagline makes it perfectly clear to the audience what kind of movie this intends to be. The opening conversation between Billi (Awkwafina) and Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhao) consists of nothing but lies. Billi promises her grandmother that she’s wearing a jacket and hat to stay warm in the cold winter of New York and Nai Nai tells her granddaughter she’s at her sister’s house (Lu Hong) whereas she’s really getting a scan at the doctors. Although what they’re saying to each other may be untruthful, the reasoning behind it is clear, that sometimes a good lie is better than the harsh truth.
So when Nai Nai’s test results conclude that she has stage four lung cancer, her sister decides to hide this information from her, believing that the fear of cancer does more damage than the disease itself. The whole family is informed of their matriarch’s illness and immediately come up with a reason for why they can fly back to China and see her for possibly the final time, a wedding. With the only option being Billi’s cousin Hao Hao (Chen Han) and his three-month Japanese girlfriend Aiko (Aoi Mizuhara) as the bride and groom.
Although this plot sounds perfect for a dark comedy, the director Lulu Wang decides to show the situation for the dramatic and emotional environment that it would be if anyone of us had to endure this. No other director can perfect this story as well as Wang, due to the fact that this story is actually based upon her own family and grandma. So this large family ensemble carry the emotional burden of death for their grandmother, hoping she can live her life to the fullest before she passes on.
It may tackle the Nai Nai-centred stuff with a more serious approach but there is plenty of comedy to leave audiences with a smile on their face as they leave the theatre. It’s the family dynamic that makes this all-Asian cast so relatable. The young cousin never looking up from their video game, the back and forth between parents as they try and one up each other by mentioning their children’s successes, and the frantic bickering when someone has got the wrong directions. This kind of behaviour is seen in almost every family and The Farewell perfectly depicts what a dysfunctional but loving family act like when they all come together for these can’t miss events.
When one of your central characters is a loving grandma, your movie is always going to be wholesome overall. Shuzhen Zhao is perfect as Nai Nai, the way she proclaims she’s “missed her [Billi’s] cute round little butt” before endlessly tapping it is just the cute awkward mannerisms that any grandma has. The Farewell depicts the grandparent-grandchild relationship perfectly, and it’s all down to Wang writing what she knows best.
Even when the film differs away from the family-focused drama, Wang still has something to say about the environment that she grew up in. As a Chinese American woman, Billi is struggling to fit in with either cultures. She’s never seen talking to anyone but her family when she’s in America and when she finally comes back to China, memories and places that she once had are no longer there.
The Farewell never tries to make the obvious differing points between China and America, or even trying to say that one is better than the other. America is a country full of choice and education whilst China is full of potential and platonic love. The design of the houses and sets summarise the difference in how Billi sees these places. The empty walls of Billi’s New York apartment, presenting a blank canvas that is waiting to be filled whilst the full décor of Nai Nai’s walls highlight the history and heritage that this family has.
I don’t think there will be a film this year as personal as The Farewell, a story that seems too peculiar to be true but is real, nonetheless. Just like Crazy Rich Asians last year, if the film can represent a demographic that is overlooked through a universally reachable story for all types of audiences, then it is one certainly worth watching.
8/10
