The Farewell - 2019
Updated: Sep 22, 2022
Allow me to get at what really is so fantastic about The Farewell in a rather odd fashion, namely by exploring two of the chief criticisms against it. The first is that there is really not much going on. "It's boring and dull," someone shouts from the back. More on this in a minute. The second is a deconstruction of Awkwafina's performance, who is usually so completely effervescent and captivating (see Crazy Rich Asians). In this film, however, her acting is a little one note. It's basically 100 minutes of the same sullen, morose face.
OK, fair enough. If your issues with this film fall outside those lines, well, sorry for not addressing them. But we must trudge onward. Regarding the "boring claim"...look, this is an art film. The plot really isn't the point anyway. The Farewell is more about the wealth of characters and their actions. And the fact is this picture has some of the most naturalistic actors saying some of the most naturalistic lines in ages. Nai Nai, the grandmother, is incredible from start to finish and greatly deserved a nomination she never received. The older brother of the family is fantastic. Billi's mother, as this grounding outside voice (she's lived in the US for decades) is simply amazing. The list goes on. I will grant you that this may not be Awkwafina's best work, but remember, she is the conscience of this film. She is the embodiment of grief and sorrow, and upon her falls the heaviest weight of guilt for the secret she's hiding from her beloved grandmother.
The film itself is stellar. It's hilarious in parts and moving in others just like real life. Not one part of it is forced, and, clocking in at around 100 minutes, it never overstays its welcome. People talk about subtlety often in film, and this is one of the best examples I've seen of it. You're not spoonfed anything. Rather, you're left to figure out the dynamics between each of the family members past and present all on your own. The Farewell explores old and young themes, east and West motifs, reflections on the question of where home really is and what the immigration experience is like (both in Japan and the US). Finally, it's also kind of a coming of age tale for Billi. So, it's delicately loaded with all of this terrific "stuff."
The movie never really has this HUGE emotive moment, but it has a wealth of really good scenes. The older brother's speech at the faux wedding, where he finally simply breaks down in tears is one. The discussion between Billi and her mother about how grief does not look the same for everyone is another. Yet a third involves one of the many mealtime scenes in the picture, where Billi's mother is trading verbal barbs with the daughter who stayed in China and never emigrated. Finally, there is a hysterical sequence where they're all leaving items at the grandfather's grave and bowing incessantly in some (obviously outdated to them) Chinese respect for the dead ceremony. It's all just subtly great.
As we've said, all of these naturalistic events are occurring - weddings, funerals, rites of passage - and even in a completely different language there are a myriad of things that you would recognize from our own culture. It is really this fact which is the most enduring strength of The Farewell, a picture chock full of culturally specific elements married to universal family themes.
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