Goodbye?

★★★ 1/2 out of ★★★★

The Farewell (2019)

Runtime: 100 minutes
MPAA: Rated PG for thematic material, brief language and some smoking.

Saying goodbye to a family member is an excruciating experience. The Farewell is 'based on true lie', which involves a family who finds out their grandmother is dying from Stage 4 lung cancer, although the grandmother has no clue about it. In order to cover things up, they decide not to inform Nai Nai, and instead to organize a wedding as an excuse to gather everyone to meet her for the final time.

The Farewell is very true to Asian culture. It has almost everything you need - strong characters, long, drawn-out but painfully accurate family dinner conversations, cultural diversity, behind-the-stage emotional outbursts and scenic views of the streets of China. However, several scenes like Billi playing the piano or Nai Nai and the family bowing cut abruptly, which is slightly jarring.

Consider Billi as your point-of-view. This character goes through many hardships throughout the movie, and slowly forms a spiritual connection to her grandmother. Billi used to spend her time as a kid with her grandparents, harnessing unforgettable and happy memories, before being forcefully moved to the United States. At this time round, Billi expects that this will be her last time with her grandmother. The two share many intimate moments, with the grandma being concerned about her well-being, job and relationships after her eventual passing. When Billi's not with her grandmother, she expresses her worries for grandma to her parents and persuades them to tell her about the cancer.

I appreciate the effort and dedication from Lulu Wang. Her movie is emotionally provoking, visually appealing and nostalgic to those of Asian roots. Awkwafina, who plays Billi, is exceptional. Known for her mostly comedic and light-hearted roles, when being given more serious roles like these, she performs stellar. She understands pain, emotions, odysseys of loss. However, we must remember that comedians understand grief. They use their tragedy and turn it into our comedy. 

Even though The Farewell reaches its high points, certain scenes where the characters settle down for a moment and have dialogue, feel quite inert. There are a few scenes without Nai Nai, with characters just constantly arguing "Should we tell her?" "We should tell her." "She'll know when the time comes." which repeats a tad much. There are also moments where the pace starts to slow down substantially, like slow-motion panoramic shots of the wedding.

By the end, there are increasingly more important scenes, like Billi rushing to know about Nai Nai's re-scan results, the whole family on the other side of the table, waiting for Nai Nai to open the scan results envelope (which has been modified) and how Billi finally decides not to tell her grandmother about her disease and joins the family alliance. The one that hid a disgusting lie from their loved one.

Other than a few missteps, The Farewell is a personal film made with skill, care, and love.

Trailer: