This is a sweet, emotional journey of love and respect for family and Awkwafina’s breakout leading role showing the comedian/rapper’s dramatic versatility.
This is Lulu Wang’s second feature film. When her own Chinese family found out that Nai-Nai, her grandmother, had terminal cancer, they came up with a sensitive and unusual way to say goodbye without letting her know why. They believed it better to live out her life without fear.
They decide to quickly stage a wedding of a young cousin Hal Hao (Han Chen) to his Japanese girlfriend of three months, Akio (Ali Mizuhara) was to bring everyone together for a big celebration so they could say good-bye to Nai-Nai (played by famous Chinese actress Shuzhen Zhou). And Wang’s real aunt, Lu Hong, plays herself, little Nai-Nai. But faced with bringing many family members from far away and having everyone in on the lie to Nai-Nai about why they’re coming, posed serious and funny situations.
Wang handles both well in this, her second feature, but she explained during the Q & A during the Chicago Critics Film Festival that it was a hard sell to the studios. They wanted more of a Chinese version of My Big Fat Greek Wedding wanting to play off the success of Crazy Rich Asians.
But Wang wanted it to be dramatic as well as a comedy and this film fits the bill nicely. It’s also very informative about Chinese family relationships and traditions.
Wang says that they had funny times shooting the film in China. She brought the whole crew and cast having to sometimes use her Grandmother’s apartment for bathroom breaks. The real Nai-Nai would also make sure they had plenty of snacks.
Awkwafina plays the stand-in for Lulu, Billi, who was born in China but raised in America. She is very close to her Grandmother and has kept in touch. The scenes of them talking alone together show how much they love and respect each other. But going back to China, she feels like a fish out of water in her home country and is struggling between two cultures and trying to find her way in the world. She’s having a hard time dealing with the family’s decision to hide the truth from her grandmother.
Wang was not sure the comedian would be right for the part. Awkwafina won her over when she sent a tape showing her reading lines with other actors. Wang was impressed with how well she reacted when she was silent. We were surprised at her sensitive dramatic acting ability, when she was talking or not. Wang shows the relationship between Nai-Nai and Billi is certainly affectionate and special. Their mutual respect is touching.
There are many funny scenes, not only when trying to keep the family secret, but family traditions. There’s a lot of cooking and eating in this film. The scenes getting ready for the wedding show customs at the celebration, including playing games that Wang says get more complicated as they drink.
But it’s the expressions between family members trying to keep the secret from Nai-Nai that create tense and comedic moments. Little Nai-Nai has fun repartee with the Grandmother. And since Lu Hong is Wang’s real aunt, it’s a look inside the real family’s relationship.
The score and songs, mostly composed by Alex Weston, are notable because Wang wanted them all to be vocals. Wang knows her music and was trained as a concert pianist. But she knew she wanted all of the music to be sung, and even includes karaoke.
This is a poignant yet funny perspective on a serious subject that all families face. Wang handles this with sensitivity and charm. But there are more issues at hand here than life or death. Cultural differences, time away from family, being honest and truthful all come into play. Awkwafina shows all of this well and is now a true movie star. Bring tissues. And stay to the very end to see Wang’s real family. This Farewell is a welcome piece of touching and personal filmmaking.
A24 98 Minutes PG-13
