Written by Kiara Co
Photo Credit: A24
This film introduces the story as “based on a lie.” Turns out, this really was based on the director’s (Lulu Wang) story. Many critics and viewers have said numerous great things about The Farewell with Awkwafina (Ocean’s 8, Crazy Rich Asians), who plays Billi, as the lead.
The Farewell is about a Chinese family as they go back home to China as their grandmother has a short life to live due to stage four lung cancer. They used Billi’s cousin’s wedding as an excuse, because the grandmother herself doesn’t know she is sick.
One of the best parts of this movie is that it’s subtle. Everything about this movie felt so natural and authentic and you could tell that Lulu Wang’s vision for this movie was crafted well. Throughout this entire movie, it either made you think a bit deeper or automatically knew what exactly was happening.
About 90% of this movie was spoken in Mandarin as almost the entire movie takes place in China, but don’t worry because there were English subtitles. There were a few lines during the movie that had no subtitles but only during scenes that didn’t need subtitles because viewers knew what was happening.
The dialogue for the movie was well done. As mentioned, it was subtle. It doesn’t matter what ethnic background you’re from, you’re able to figure it out what each character was trying to say. It just made the movie more meaningful when the lines were simple, but also reading between the lines added more dimension to it. Culture played a huge in this movie and it wasn’t spoon fed to the audience through dialogue. Even Crazy Rich Asians wasn’t able to do that.
As for culture, it was properly represented with the clash of cultures between the American and Chinese was portrayed in such a relatable way. Life in America and China are different which makes the people different and having different kinds of Chinese people in the movie showed they had an actual view and personality. Now the concept of lying to the elder’s sickness is very common, not only in China, but turns out in other ethnic backgrounds as well. In this case, the Chinese believe it is bad luck to tell the elderly they are severely sick. It’s not the cancer that kills them, but the fear.
In the movie, a small bird appeared in the movie twice and it entered inside the house. For those who may not know, it was not random. It meant something was happening with it either bad luck or just some sort of warning as it can symbolise foreshadowing.
The acting between each character was phenomenal. Nothing was lacking in this movie. Since each character was acted out well, it was convincing how connected the characters were as a family. How Billi was very close to her Nai nai (grandma in Mandarin) and especially the lead, Billi was portrayed well. Awkwafina is becoming more and more popular and she is constantly proving she has great acting range. Whether it is comedy or drama, she can do it all.
The Farewell was beautifully shot was as well. It was simple but aesthetically pleasing. Whether the tones were vibrant, blue, or warm toned. The shots of the city views of New York and China was beautiful in each frame. It’s the little things that made this film amazing.
The movie had its emotional and funny moments. This movie will make you tear up but also have some laugh worthy moments. You feel some kind of connection with the story and characters as it makes you realise how family is important. The end of the movie was heartfelt as when Billi and her family had to leave China, it was sad. You’d think they will never see nai nai. Although the last scene it shows Awkwafina back in New York walking, then a bunch of birds flying away from the tree. After that scene, it showed the real life nai nai who lived for six years later after diagnosis.
The director, Lulu Wang, had this happened to her. She was Billi and her story was in a podcast. Then, in an interview, she mentioned that big companies such as Disney wanted to pick up her story. However, these big companies wanted to butcher the story as if they didn’t listen to the podcast. Gladly, she stuck to the indie art house film route and the film distributor, A24, was able to do this for her. The Farewell also had her real life grand aunt who played the grand aunt (nai nai’s sister). Wang also mentioned the debate whether this would be a Chinese or American film. To Americans, it could be Chinese because of the cast or the amount of Mandarin. To Chinese, it could be American because of the way they spoke or point of view in the story.
The Farewell is a Chinese-American film that is lead by a Chinese-American female and directed by a Chinese-American director. Representation, shouldn’t just be a different face on the screen just to check it off the list. Representation should mean a fresh story from a different perspective. Representation should mean more, from on screen to off screen. The Farewell is a good example of a wonderful film with proper representation.
The Farewell was like the film Roma so if you enjoyed a film like Roma, then you will definitely enjoy The Farewell. If you also enjoyed Crazy Rich Asians because of the all Asian cast with an Asian-American lead and directed by an Asian-American director, this one is for you! Plus, Awkwafina was in this movie too!
Either way, this was such an amazing film and it is a much watch if you are a movie buff who is looking for something to watch this 2019!
