Excellent movie based upon true story that pulls on your heartstrings while enjoying family as well
The Farewell starts with the quote “Based on an actual lie.” That’s because this is a true story based upon the experiences of director Lulu Wang. She originally made a version of the story on NPR’s This American Life. She then decided to make it into a film. That proved quite a task as movie executives had no idea what to make of her story. They asked such insightful questions as Is this an American movie or a Chinese movie? If it’s an American movie why are the characters speaking Chinese? If this is an American movie why do the characters go to China? Despite that idiocrasy she finally got the green light and turned The Farewell into a fantastic drama.<br /><br />The story revolves around Billi (Awkwafina) receiving news that her grandmother Nai Nai (Zhao Shuzhen) back in China has stage four cancer and only has a few months to live. The family decides to stage a fake wedding with Billi’s cousin to bring the whole family together back in China so that they can celebrate Nai Nai before she passes. Following Chinese tradition however they don’t tell her she’s going to die. Her family explains the reasoning behind this two ways. First, her father (Tzi Ma) and mother (Diana Lin) say that in China there’s a phrase Cancer kills. That’s not to be taken literally, because that’s obvious. What it means is that cancer can kill the soul and people will die emotionally before they die physically. Therefore it’s better not to tell Nai Nai her situation so that she can enjoy life to the end. Second, her uncle (Jiang Yongbo) says that as a Westerner Billi always thinks about herself because she’s been brought up thinking individually. She therefore is feeling all of her guilt over not telling her Nai Nai what’s wrong with her. In China and the East however, it’s all about the family, the society, the group. Therefore it is the family’s obligation to bear Nai Nai’s pain for her knowing that she is dying. Billi is so attached to her grandmother calling her everyday that her family doesn’t think she can keep up a straight face during this charade so they leave her behind in America as they go to the fake wedding to say goodbye to Nai Nai. Billi won’t be left behind however and she goes to China.<br /><br />You would think this story would be a complete downer tragedy with lots of crying, heartbreaking scenes and family arguments. Don’t be mistaken, there are plenty of those and people in the audience when I saw the film were breaking down in at least two scenes. The power of this film is that Lulu Wang was able to throw in plenty of funny and heartwarming scenes in there as well.<br /><br />There is plenty of subtle symbolism also about China going on. For example, the family wants to maintain this Chinese tradition of not telling Nai Nai her situation, but everything else around them is rapidly changing as the country’s economy booms. Nai Nai’s original home for example has been knocked down for an urban redevelopment program. The movie poses that question about what can be sustained in this type of environment when there are new and modern things happening non-stop.<br /><br />Overall, this was a fantastic film. It pulled at your heart while making you appreciate family and perseverance as well. Highly recommended.<br />C
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 {"Content advisory": ["Alcohol use", "smoking", "foul language"], "Audio languages": ["English", "English [Audio Description]"], "Subtitles": ["English [CC]"], "Directors": ["Lulu Wang"], "Producers": ["Lulu Wang", "Dan Balgoyen", "Joshua M. Cohen", "Anita Gou", "Daniele Tate Melia", "Andrew Miano", "Eddie Rubin", "Peter Saraf", "Marc Turtletaub", "Chris Weitz"], "Starring": ["Awkwafina", "Tzi Ma", "Diana Lin"]}

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