The Farewell (2019)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Farewell (2019) – L. Wang

I don’t know much about Awkwafina (she’s also a rapper?) but she has an easy-going charm that helps to carry this film by new director Lulu Wang.  The story is personal but it references cultural differences that likely affect most migrants, particularly those crossing from East to West (or vice versa).  For example, the rights and duties of families versus individuals may be very different (this is practically a cliché by now, of course).  This traditional conflict comes to a head when the grandmother of Billi (Awkwafina) is diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer back in China and the family decides not to tell her -- with the complicity of the hospital.  Having grown up in New York, Billi is stunned by what she perceives to be the lack of dignity afforded to her grandmother but her family maintains that it is their responsibility to bear the emotional weight of the situation and to protect “Nai Nai” from its stresses.  That’s the plot in a nutshell and the screen time is used primarily to flesh out the family dynamics:  everyone has returned to China for a (faux) wedding between Billi’s cousin and his Japanese girlfriend which is really an excuse to see Nai Nai one last time.  The mix of drama and comic relief is deft and the music (by Wang herself on piano) helps to guide our emotional responses.  It’s an easy film to like despite its heavy theme – perhaps the universality of the events and the contemplation of different ways of responding to them across cultures provides an access point, regardless of one’s origin.  Awkwafina (aged 30 here) might also attract Millenials who are shaping up to be a very amusing generation.