The Farewell Review

Awkwafina stars in Lulu Wang's personal story surrounding an actual lie in "The Farewell". Courtesy of A24.

Jian: "Chinese people have a saying: When people get cancer, they die."

Despite having buzz from Sundance and much critical praise about this film, “The Farewell” was marked on my watchlist for a while. I have been wanting to see this film since I first saw it appear on the premiere list at Sundance. Before the critics I must add. I found the synopsis, prior to the award-winning level recognition, to be the most definitive aspect about it. There is something unique about crossing both international and American cinema into one film. This being Chinese and American cinema being melded into one film. And I found that to be stimulating and different, rather than boring or same old crap. As I grow older, I am far more appreciating the international cinema and what it has done to affect American and overall cinema. “The Farewell” is a prime example of how today’s audiences can not only watch a crowd-pleasing film, but watch one with themes and the beautiful aspects of Chinese culture, and American culture being placed into one film. This film had me thinking, laughing and quite honestly, almost crying near the end of the film. It raises some thought-provoking questions I have never really asked myself or others about. And people should watch this film just for that train of thought.

“The Farewell” is about Billi (aka Awkwafina) and her struggle to keep a family lie about her grandmother, who is dying, but she does not know about it. Billi, who is struggling in America, decides to fly to China to see her dying grandmother one last time before she dies. And the excuse that is bringing everyone together, is that Billi’s cousin is getting married, which provides some good obstinate laughs through this story. This premise is one that I found to be quite intriguing the most, just because there was so many questions to be raised, which the film does raise and sometimes gives you an answer on what they think is right and what is wrong. However, there are not clear cut answers as well, and sometimes the film lets the audience decide what they think is right and wrong.

Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin and many others star in Lulu Wang's "The Farewell". Courtesy of A24.

With much universal acclaim as well, there are many pluses that stick out from “The Farewell” and most it coming from the writing and directing, and all of the performances are through the roof as well. Awkwafina gives a career best performance with this film, showing the struggles of living as an Asian American, and how her own culture is making her question her life and her own individualism. There are many moments where Awkwafina acts as if she is happy, but sad all at the same time. And so do all of the other characters in the film.

Lulu Wang is the writer and director of this film and she pours out her heart with this. She makes this film feel personal and well thought out. She explores the same thoughts of what she went through during this transition in her life. She questioned about individualism vs. cultural morals. Wang essentially writes the character of Billi as a version of herself, where we get to see what it was like for Wang to go through these changes and struggles during this painful and yet odd situation. The exploration of what it is like being an American, but also being Chinese is what really drives this film forward. And for Wang to show that and make this film feel different and defined, I think there is a potential beauty and long-lasting effect to it that you normally do not see in today’s films. While I think there is better camera work than say older films, at least classical Hollywood wanted to use the art form to their advantage, and that is how I see with “The Farewell”.

Awkwafina (left) and Shuzhen Zhao (right) in "The Farewell". Courtesy of A24.

The screenwriting as well is pretty insightful when it comes to pertaining to the overall reasoning for the whole situation. There is overall lying when it comes to the characters communication. Most, if not all characters, lie to make sure no one close to them knows what they are hiding. But they all share this overall lie, which begs the question if these characters are good people? But they mean to lie for the greater good, so no one can feel the pain they are. And there is a beautiful message behind all of the lying from the characters, which is they feel like they need to carry the pain that their grandmother should not have. That is why she is not told about her diagnosis. The family takes on the burden, which I found to be one of the most eloquent parts of this narrative. This family, this culture, clearly cares about one another, and when you incorporate different ideals, like we Americans, it conflicts all of these characters to their core because they want to speak the truth, but they realize they should not either.

While I adored the film and its immaculate questioning, I found some minor errors and critiques while I was watching. The narrative to “The Farewell” can sometimes feel like they are not exploring enough, but sometimes they feel like they are. Without spoiling, because I do believe people should watch this, the film can just feel like it is missing just a little bit more. There are definitely missing ideas in here and maybe they got cut, but I just was asking for a little more. And while I am being greedy in that sense, “The Farewell” has everything I wanted for a realistic depiction of a situation that happens more common than we might think. And since Lulu Wang handled this with such care, it is hard not to love its charm and personal connections you can have as you watch. And it may not be “The Farewell” you are thinking before you watch, in fact it could be just the beginning of something else.

Rating: A-

Run Time: 1 Hour 40 Minutes