By Vincent Abbatecola
With families differing between cultures, and their traditions carrying on for decades, maybe even centuries, it’s fascinating to see many of the world’s customs portrayed in movies, as well as see how people honor their family history across nationalities. Although there might be many variances between these cultures, one of the things that’s a commonality is togetherness, and it’s always a life-affirming concept to see on screen.
Writer-director Lulu Wang delivers such a story with her comedy-drama, “The Farewell,”a superb look at a family that strikes a perfect balance between laughs and tearjerking emotions.
Billi (Awkwafina) is a Chinese-American woman living in New York City. When Billi finds out from her parents (Tzi Ma and Diana Lin) that her grandmother (Zhao Shuzhen) has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, they decide to go to China to see her, all while having the family keep the diagnosis a secret from her. As their visit progresses, Billi is unsure if she will be able to keep her grandmother in the dark for long.
After giving a hilarious supporting performance last summer in “Crazy Rich Asians,”Awkwafina delivers a stunning dramatic turn that shows us her awe-inspiring range, showing the anguish that it takes to hold such a dire secret from someone and pretend that everything is fine. When her character is with her grandmother, Awkwakina shows the love and respect that she has for her, which makes her performance all of the more emotional as she tries not to crack under the weight of the situation. Through all of this, Awkwafina also shows the ache of being a sort of outsider in her family while visiting China because of how she’s the only one who believes that keeping the secret from her grandmother is wrong. Between Billi expressing love for her grandmother and sadness from hiding her true feelings from her, Awkwakina’s performance is as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking, leaving you amazed at what she can accomplish as an actress.
Shuzhen provides a comical performance as a carefree grandmother who doesn’t want anything more than the best for her family. She exudes absolute happiness whenever she’s on screen, showing a love for life that brings about endless vibrancy, and her welcoming smile and personality get you caught up in her age-is-just-a-number spirit. Despite her character’s illness, Shuzhen leaves you in such an uplifted mood at her optimism, and you can’t help but grin as she tries to help her family have the greatest time possible while on their visit.
The whole cast provides a genuineness in their performances that makes this a fascinating family to watch as they share several meals, interact with one another, and try to catch up on how everyone is doing after not having seen each other in a long time. Everyone does terrific work in creating this family and presenting the dynamics among them as they have discussions, all of which have a strong naturalism to them. This is a way to absorb you into their lifestyle, making you feel like a guest at their dinner table as they open up to each other and allow you to get to know them.
The screenplay by Wang, which is based on her own experiences with her grandmother’s illness, provides a lot of insight into this family and how they deal with keeping the cancer diagnosis a secret, all while depicting the inner conflict of Billi trying to keep that secret, but wanting to tell her grandmother. This serves as an exploration of how Chinese citizens and Americans would handle the situation differently, allowing the audience to think about what they would do in such a scenario and about the ethics behind both sides of the argument.
The direction by Wang is observational, seeming like she’s letting the family sit and talk as they go over certain issues. Through this, she brings you into her culture and provides you with the opportunity to see her lifestyle. Wang doesn’t feel the need to add any visual flairs because she doesn’t want to distract us from the details of each family member as we watch them, and that’s not a bad thing at all, as it keeps the setting grounded and lets the cast go about the movie with as much realism as possible.
In terms of the views between Chinese and American culture, one of the best scenes in the film is a dinner sequence in which the family discusses raising children in China, as Billi’s extended family has done, versus America, which is what Billi’s immediate family has done. Voices aren’t raised and there aren’t exaggerated physical movements during this debate, but you can still feel the tension as Wang seems to step back and allow the conversation to play out.
In “The Farewell,” you can sense the love that Wang has for her heritage and family in every scene, and you feel lucky to be given an opportunity to look inside the world of these characters as they handle their ordeal, making this a beautiful, funny, tender, and dramatic family portrait.
Grade: A