When I tell you that 2019 dramedy The Farewell sent me on a roller coaster of emotion… whew.
It starts with a bit of snarky humor — the film is “based on an actual lie” — and proceeds to anger and distress: writer-director Lulu Wang’s semiautobiographical tale revolves around the Chinese tradition of not telling elders they have a terminal illness. At first I was appalled and thought this cruel, as Awkwafina’s Chinese-American New Yorker does when she learns that her beloved grandmother (Shuzhen Zhao) is dying and the rest of the family is withholding that news from her.
But then, as the family gathers in China on the pretense of a cousin’s wedding, but actually so that everyone can see Nai Nai for one last time, I began to appreciate the wisdom behind the tradition. I’m still not sure I agree with it, but this delightful, poignant movie came with the extra bonus of making me reconsider my cultural biases.
US: stream on Netflix and Kanopy; rent/buy on Prime and Apple TV
UK: rent/buy on Prime and Apple TV
See The Farewell at Letterboxd for more viewing options.
