X
- 2019
- PG
- A24
- 1 h 40 m
- 2019
- PG
- A24
- 1 h 40 m
Summary Chinese-born, U.S.-raised Billi (Awkwafina) reluctantly returns to Changchun to find that, although the whole family knows their beloved matriarch, Nai-Nai, has been given mere weeks to live, everyone has decided not to tell Nai Nai herself. To assure her happiness, they gather under the joyful guise of an expedited wedding, uniting fami...
- 2019
- PG
- A24
- 1 h 40 m
- 2019
- PG
- A24
- 1 h 40 m
The Farewell
8.2
Where to Watch
Summary Chinese-born, U.S.-raised Billi (Awkwafina) reluctantly returns to Changchun to find that, although the whole family knows their beloved matriarch, Nai-Nai, has been given mere weeks to live, everyone has decided not to tell Nai Nai herself. To assure her happiness, they gather under the joyful guise of an expedited wedding, uniting fami...
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 47 Critic Reviews
89
100% Positive
47 Reviews
47 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 47 Critic Reviews
89
100% Positive
47 Reviews
47 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Sometimes, the movie argues, it’s the things we don’t say that prove how much we care. Billi’s path to acceptance of this makes The Farewell one of the most heartfelt homecoming films in years.
The film is a heady, gentle and emotional journey, but Wang also packs the frame with layered conversation and funny background action. She makes the family dynamics feel universally familiar while also presenting an authentic portrait of China and Chinese families.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 252 User Ratings
8.2
86% Positive
217 Ratings
217 Ratings
10% Mixed
26 Ratings
26 Ratings
4% Negative
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 252 User Ratings
8.2
86% Positive
217 Ratings
217 Ratings
10% Mixed
26 Ratings
26 Ratings
4% Negative
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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Building to the potential of a confrontation with the wedding climax, The Farewell threatens to melt into sentimentalism, but Wang dodges the obvious pathways to a tidy resolution.
Unlike "Crazy Rich Asians," which had eyes for narrative substance but shamelessly flirted with the superficial, The Farewell is a more substantive, engrossing and ultimately deeper work about the bonds that hold and strengthen us.
Those looking for a complex, funny and touching family will be more than rewarded for seeking this out.
It’s a slight film at times but one that builds to a crescendo of emotion.
The Farewell is so fixated on its principle problem that it doesn’t allow its story or its characters to veer from it, or find further complexities in it. There’s only so many scenes a story can take of family members trying to keep the truth from grandma before it become less compelling.
It is about how people deal with death in the family. In US, the doctor bear legal responsibility to deliver the death verdict to you. In China, the news is usually delivered to their family member and it is up to the family to decide how or if they expose the news to their loved ones. This decision is usually only apply to the seniors in the family. It is a "crime" committed by the whole gang. To people live in China, it is not questionable. It is the way it is, it is responsibility of the offspring to bear the burden. This is premise of the movie. A practice is questioned by their uprooted American grown granddaughter, Bellie. The movie is not exactly all about this premise, dilemma, paradox. It is about how to love. In Chinese family, love is not being said, but done. As the grandma, Nainai, says, how to do it matters. Bellie want to say her last goodbye to Nainai; but to Chinese, we don't say goodbye. To say it out is shallow, but keep it deep in the heart. On the top of mourning, the movie also shows the dynamics between family members: Nainai and mom has under tension going; mom and dad are on rocky term; mom and Bellie has tense feeling on Grandpa's death; Mom and aunt argued about China and US... These conflicts are all yielding to their over hang grief. Death is the final God. And this is how Chinese family, community and country work together to keep harmony. The movie is a masterpiece worth watch over and over. The plot, if you referring to the premise is very simple and straight forward, but it layered many aspect in such a small space and time frame. And there is Ellen, singing her heart out for Little Nainai, Nainai's sister and the family. What else you can ask for a movie like this?
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Writer/director Lulu Wang relates the semi-autobiographical story of a family grappling with the ethical trappings behind hiding the news of a terminal cancer diagnosis from the woman with the illness -- the family matriarch. For many reasons, "The Farewell" could've been an absolute barn burner of an emotional journey, but instead we're given the more low-key approach; something that may or may not align with your taste preferences. For my money, I've always preferred films of the more "heart on one's sleeve" persuasion, and while things do broach upon that territory towards the very end, it almost seems like a bit too little given too late. You're also met with an admittedly intriguing moral dilemma that's teased and prodded at throughout the film's running time, but it's one that's almost completely done away with in the film's final moments (which is a moral conundrum in and of itself, considering that it involves one of the more remarkable facts from the actual story behind the film). Overall, "The Farewell" left a bit to be desired for me, but it's not necessarily a watch I want to take back.
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The original title for this post was "'The Farewell' Review: An Angsty Awkwafina Headlines This One Note Song." That was before we noticed that the film currently maintains a 99% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
After seeing that, we had to take stock of the situation by contemplating whose opinion is closer to being "correct" with regard to judging the overall quality of the movie: ours or mainstream critics.
For comparison, last year's breakout foreign film 'Shoplifters' also maintains a 99% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It won the Palm d'Or at Cannes in addition to 43 other awards around the world. The plot to 'Shoplifters' is wonderfully deep and complex. The acting is superb and the camerawork is among the best of the year.
Alternatively, 'The Farewell' exhibits almost none of those attributes. The plot is rather mundane, we're never given much of a reason to care about any of the characters, and the dialogue is pedestrian, at best.
So we'll leave it to you, film fans, to tell us who you agree with more: us or them. Go see the film, form an opinion, and let us know on social media.
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(Mauro Lanari)
Petulant grandmother all the time, her granddaughter with pout and hump and she too for the whole duration, in the midst of these two one-dimensional protagonists a mediocre ethical dilemma dripping with melodramatic rhetoric.
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[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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Production Company
Big Beach,
Depth of Field,
Kindred Spirit,
Seesaw Productions
Release Date Jul 12, 2019
Duration 1 h 40 m
Rating PG
Tagline Based on an Actual Lie
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Odyssey Awards
• 1 Win & 8 Nominations
Hollywood Critics Association
• 1 Win & 7 Nominations
