The Farewell
The Farewell is a semi-autobiographical dramedy by Lulu Wang. The film explores eastern traditions in comparison to western with a Chinese-American family at the center of the story. Billi (Awkwafina) is a 30-year-old New Yorker who is devastated by the news that her grandmother Nai Nai has stage four lung cancer. She is even more horrified at her family's scheme not to tell Nai Nai. Instead, they tell Nai Nai she is fine. The family comes up with the deception of a wedding for Billi's cousin as the reason they are all back in China together without seeming suspicious to Nai Nai. The family sees the act of not telling an elder about having cancer as an act of kindness.
The cinematography of the film is breathtaking. Wang uses wide shot angles to create a dreamy/horror tone throughout the film. She creates a Chinese city as a character in the movie. There are a lot of details that are never explained. It is stunning from her use of whooshing the camera around while the family plays a drinking game to the panning shots of Nai Nai's neighborhood.
The Farewell is both subtle and complex. The writing is both nautral and warm. It explores family secrets and their effect on the family dynamic. Billi is faced with the choice of telling her grandmother about her illness or keeping it a secret. Both choices will not play out well for Billi. Throughout the film, her emotions and body language show how uncomfortable she is with keeping this secret and how it is eating away at her. Billi's confusion and isolation are beautifully captured and understood for audiences. Nai Nai is such a delight in the film. She brings spunk and wholesomeness to the film and is a love letter to Wang's own grandmother.
The Farewell is loving. It exposes western cultures to eastern culture norms. In Western civilization, it is the individual who is emphasized making the decision to tell someone they have cancer an easy task while in eastern culture it is a collective atmosphere where telling an elder they are sick brings only them with the burden and is a selfish act on the family to do. There is no culture clash in The Farewell. Billi and her parents easily navigate between both cultures.
The Farewell captures cultural tradition and brings it to the big screen for audiences. Audiences are able to recognize complex family dynamics and the lengths people go for their families. The film emphasizes love and the importance of family. Lulu Wang is revolutionary and brings a story to the mainstream screen audiences haven't seen before.