This Month in Indie: The Farewell
*Warning: There are quite a few spoilers ahead!*
Director Lulu Wang delivers a simple and clean-cut Chinese family drama that’s easy for even the white middle-aged couple next to me to digest.
Plot and Story
The Farewell tells the story of Chinese-American Billi (Awkwafina) and her relationship with her family as it relates to her grandmother’s (Shuzhen Zhao) failing health. Billi’s family, deciding to congregate back in China under the guise of her cousin’s wedding, have decided it unwise to inform Nai Nai (the Chinese name for “grandmother”) of her progressing cancer. Furthermore, her parents decide it even worse for Billi herself to join in on the festivities. Gifted with the brazenness of her learned American culture, Billi decides to show up anyway, interrupting the smiles with her sad eyes and generally-worried demeanor.
The film opens with Nai Nai in the hospital getting a CT scan only for her sister to receive the results and tell her that it was nothing but “benign shadows” the doctor had seen. Billi, with whom Nai Nai had been on the phone just before lying about her whereabouts when her sister returns, is still shocked when her parents finally admit what has been going on for quite some time, magnifying her desire to go back to China. As the story unfolds further, the lie almost slips out, specifically when Nai Nai returns to the hospital as her pneumonia that developed from a previous cold obstructs her breathing.
It’s these first twenty minutes that make The Farewell, setting the remainder of it to play out as it might naturally in China — of course an American audience wouldn’t know anything about that, so all we can do is speculate. It is quiet and sterile, like the Chinese hospital and very unlike the busy New York City streets. That major contrast is one that feels out of place as we learn about Billi’s denial into a coveted writers’ fellowship, her struggles to live comfortably on her own in the city, and her Eastern-yet-oddly-Western relationship with her parents. Imagine those extra pieces of baggage following Billi to China and one might understand how out-of-place she could truly be amongst an extended family who believes that those who choose to settle in the United States are often trying to shed their heritage despite her ability to keep up with their Chinese.
Billi struggles to understand her family’s perspective in keeping Nai Nai’s diagnosis a secret and eventually aids them in maintaining that discretion as she sees how happy her grandmother is to continue about her life as normal. This is particularly evident in Nai Nai’s morning exercise routine remaining unchanged and just as active as anyone trying to make even minor changes in their physical health. The older woman walks down endless flights of stairs of her apartment building just to reach the street level and pace while focusing on her breathing. When going back up the stairs, Billi asks her grandmother whether or not she feels her continuing this routine would be wise, to which the woman replies with her deep desire to remain active by any means necessary — which an awareness of her diagnosis would immediately impede. This scene serves as a firm anchor for Billi who takes her grandmother’s workout back to New York City with her in an effort to change her own perspective on her less-than-perfect American life.
The Farewell does well to educate audiences on standard Chinese cultural practices, especially those included in wedding receptions, and it’s Billi’s mom who offers the most important note of the entire film: that in the East, a person’s life is a part of a whole. Any disruptions to that single life would throw the balance of the ‘whole’ off entirely. So, if you’ve been worried about whether or not Nai Nai’s life could potentially be damaged for the worse if she’s not told about her condition, think further about her current ability to live her life to the fullest. If she knew, would she be able to be as happy as she is today?
Overall, The Farewell is a well-paced, easy story with simple cultural elements and details Easterners could’ve further enjoyed. I felt as though it was like a nice wink to anyone of Eastern cultures while respectfully entertaining Western mentality through Awkwafina’s character. If you didn’t cry when Nai Nai waved Billi and her parents off when they drove back to the airport, there’s something genuinely wrong with you.
I give the plot and story of The Farewell a 9/10.
Visuals: Photography, Editing, and Production Design
Director Lulu Wang opts for wider shots only when absolutely necessary, oftentimes when family memorabilia lurk in the corners — namely when Billi and Nai Nai are talking at the end. Otherwise, the film is pretty tightly shot when everyone’s together, like that power pyramid slo-mo walk down the street after they retrieve and change Nai Nai’s results. Unlike Joe Talbot of The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Wang opts for more straight-on camera angles, probably to ensure that there is much attention being paid to the cultural nuances that Westerners are sure to miss.
Color-wise, Wang uses lots and lots of blues, especially during the wedding. After a few quick clicks and taps of the keyboard, I learned that blue in Chinese culture ushers in a generative energy, promoting immortality, which is reasonable to use for a new couple, and even wiser when referring to Nai Nai’s condition. The open reception hall is packed with tables filled with people Nai Nai herself invited from the confines of her clean and traditional Chinese apartment.
As expected of an A24-produced film, The Farewell is quite nicely saturated in color, not at all dull in its greys or neutrals of which Marvel’s films have been known to be guilty. Instead, colors that are meant to stand out do just that, like the green of the painting in the hospital waiting room. Considering colors are a pinnacle of Chinese culture what with their associations to the Five Elements, there are probably a lot more uses of color to which Chinese audience members are attuned, reason number one for me to run back to the theater and experience this film again.
I will say that there wasn’t anything here that I felt was an absolute stunner of a shot. It was rewarding to see Billi and her family together delivering Nai Nai the altered results, but that visual cue along with a few wider shots were all that truly stood out to me. Maybe this is Wang’s point, though; there might not be a need to embellish with Euphoria-level visuals in order to invoke interest because I was most definitely interested.
I give The Farewell’s visuals an 8/10.
Music and Sound
Classical music takes the forefront of this film, punctuated by Billi’s shredding of the piano just before the third act begins. This moment is initially soothing as her playing gradually fills the air despite her saying earlier that she doesn’t play anymore. She is very clearly avoiding the surrounding conversation by engrossing herself in the tune, but few even notice until her final crescendo before the cut to the next scene.
This kind of musical addition doesn’t strain the audience’s ears, but instead prompts focus to the moments when they’re used. The musical cues occur during major emotional turning points, like when Billi makes her trek to China or when she leaves the wedding reception to intercept Mrs. Gao picking up Nai Nai’s test results. Much like in The Last Black Man in San Francisco, this film uses sounds from the busy streets intentionally and music purposefully, so particular swells resonate that much more.
Classical music contributes to what some might call a “traditional” film score, one that exists solely to emphasize choices the actors have made to bolster the lines they’ve been given. In order to pull attention away from the lines themselves, fewer instances of music help to make the entire movie-watching experience that much more emotional. Silence pulls audience members in to the scenes themselves, with the addition of camera angles offering a place for those audience members to “stand” so that they are living along with Billi and her family.
When the piano plays, audiences are pulled back into reality long enough to contain themselves and possibly exhale just before being sucked back into the family drama. I give the film’s music and sound an 8/10.
The Farewell offers an easy-to-follow storyline that I would definitely recommend to someone who is interested in venturing into the international film market without getting too lost in crazy artsy choices that may be reminiscent of an Ozu film. It made me want to come home and read up on Chinese cultural and family dynamics while also having some kind of disdain for a few American cultural practices. After all, who really wants to be all by themselves when they have an entire family they could lean on for support? The Farewell earns a hearty 25/30 from me and you all better be taking your butts to a local theater to enjoy it. Support the arts, friends.
