Written and Directed by Lulu Wang
**** (four stars)
RATED PG
My Dad passed away on December 9, 2018 at 9:40 a.m. The time of his transition was one of a quiet, peaceful sadness that is essentially impossible to fully explain but I would gather is instantly recognizable for some of those who have gone through the experience of being directly at a loved one's side at the moment of death. It is rare to be attune to such silence, where even the sound of one's own breath might feel loud enough to disturb the phenomenon occurring--at least, this is how the final moments of my Dad felt to me as I sat right at his bedside in hospice care, a period which followed an extended stay in the ICU at a nearby hospital and where I essentially resided next to my Dad continuously for days and nights on end.
The night before he passed away, and two flights downstairs, I shared a take out meal alongside my cousins (a brother and sister who have always felt like my own older brother and sister as we all grew up together) and my Mom. Additionally, a close family friend and her family remained with my Dad so we could remove ourselves to eat. I mention this moment because of the juxtapositions that existed between the vivacious life that was profoundly evident during our dinner and the somber intensity of my Dad's final hours just floors above us. How we enjoyed our food, a meal my Dad would have been thrilled to consume and even moreso, to hold court once again at the center of our conversations, which often grew boisterous in its joyfulness...as they always tended to be when we were all together. And yet, how the mood changed from light to dark within mere seconds as we finished, cleaned up our garbage, entered the elevator and exited onto the hospice care floor where my Dad was only hours away from receiving an injection of morphine, which then allowed his body to calm into the restfulness, which then allowed him to pass away gently.
The clash of emotions, all of which were engulfing with the stark realities happening in front of me and the lifetime of memories flowing through me, were undeniably palpable and have remained so through is passing, the funeral and even now, eight months afterwards and a mere two weeks before what would have been his 78th birthday.
While taking in a screening of Writer/Director Lulu Wang's absolutely beautiful new film "The Farewell," I could not help but be transported to this transformative period in the life of my family, and not solely with the passing of my Dad, but of the recent passings of my Grandparents, the figureheads of my family, and as a result, the fracturing of the family. Lulu Wang has created a film experience that is superbly individualistic to the Chinese/Chinese-American experience and yet universal to the heart and soul that exists within ALL of our families, especially during times when life and death are held precariously in the balance. While it could be argued that there is no such thing as a "perfect" film, I would emphatically contend that Wang has achieved the impossible as "The Farewell" is exquisitely perfect.
Just as described within the film's own epigraph, Lula Wang's "The Farewell" is "based on an actual lie," and stars Awkwafina in a grounded, tenderly melancholic performance as Billi, an aspiring Chinese-American writer based in New York City yet maintains a richly close relationship with her Grandmother, Nai Nai (a luminous Zhao Shuzen), who still resides in Changchun, China.
When Nai Nai is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and is given a prognosis of only a few remaining months to live, Billi's family, via some manipulation of the medical results plus outright deception, shield Nai Nai from the devastating news entirely...and much to Billi's incredulous consternation as she feels Nai Nai should know the truth.
Utilizing the impending marriage of Billi's cousin Hao Hao (Chen Han) as a ploy, the family plans a wedding banquet which is essentially disguised as a means for the family to visit Nai Nai for what is presumably the final time. Although implored by her family to not make the voyage to Changchun for fear that she will reveal the truth to Nai Nai, Billi defies her family and makes the trip anyway as she is consumed with love and impending grief for the one who has clearly existed as her greatest friend throughout her entire life. Yet, will she be able to reconcile herself with the family lie?
In some respects, I would imagine that "The Farewell" sounds like it could exist as a screwball comedy, albeit a morbid one, as the set up does feel to lend itself to a certain tonality of film that is propelled by a plot one could consider as being "wacky." Yet, Lulu Wang never descends into cheap laughs or anything juvenile. Additionally, the film contains not even one moment of prefabricated melodrama, histrionics, or any forced emotions whatsoever. Lulu Wang's "The Farewell" is a slice-of-life film of the finest, highest order and with Wang, we are in the directorial hands of a MASTER.
Wang's executes her film with a crisp, clear, clean directness and with the precision of a surgeon, she has written and directed her film to deliver only precisely what her story needs to achieve maximum effectiveness--nothing more and nothing less. As I think about all it takes to conceive, to write, to cast, film, and edit, to go through all of the steps it takes to even make a movie of any genre at all, I was consistently amazed with Wang's sense of economy which is matched with her brevity. "The Farewell" is not an epic in terms of its running time, which is a tad over 90 minutes. It is, however, unquestionably an epic due to its thematic and emotional scope.
Lulu Wang's "The Farewell" is beautifully evocative of its representation of the Chinese and Chinese-American experience, while also being instantly recognizable to anyone who possesses a family regardless of ethnicity and background. Again, Wang never forces her dynamics between the family members. She allows every moment to breathe and communicate as if we were regarding a documentary.
Furthermore, "The Farewell" is almost entirely subtitled and yet, for those who do possess an aversion to subtitled films, Wang's tone is deeply inviting due to the enveloping warmth and intimacy of the entire proceedings. And through the character of Billi, we have our conduit for the audience while Wang also assures that her film is specific, realistic and remarkably interior, so that we never feel that she is ever pandering to the non Chinese and Chinese-American people in the theater audience.
For me, watching "The Farewell" reminded me greatly of both Sofia Coppola's "Lost In Translation" (2003) as well as Cameron Crowe's unfairly misrepresented "Elizabethtown" (2005), as those comparisons both arrived via the central character of Billi, a young woman who was born in Changcun, moved to the United States with her parents as a small child and has therefore become so Americanized that her birth home and the customs of her Chinese heritage feel more foreign than the world in which she grew up...even her native Mandarin, which arrives through Awkwafina raspy voice, is a tad rusty to the ears of her family.
Through Billi, and a storytelling style that is essentially a series of minutely observed familial vignettes, "The Farewell" gives us a story of physical and emotional displacement. With her excellent collaboration with Cinematographer Anna Franquesa Solano and augmented by Composer Alex Weston's elegant film score, Wang allows us to view Changchun through Billi's eyes, crisp, clear and yet askew, allowing us to regard the visual differences in the Chinese society in which she was born and the American society in which she grew up and remains.
These juxtapositions continue through the film as vibrancy of life contained within the events of the wedding banquet rub directly against the palpable sense of mourning that Nai Nai's family is shouldering. Exceedingly more profound is Wang's presentation of Chinese collectivism as contrasted by American individualism regarding the nature of family responsibilities when confronted with the impending death of a loved one, a juxtaposition Wang presents without a shred of judgement and completely with a matter-of-fact empathy. Celebratory and funereal, with Billie's grief and the lie binding the family together, all congeal into the emotional wellspring of "The Farewell" which Lulu Wang handles deftly, delicately and for every moment, honestly.
From the larger conceit of the film, we delve directly into its richly presented soul, which is the relationship between Billi and Nai Nai. Yes, we have Billi, young, mournful, and already feeling confused, conflicted and disillusioned with life due to the family lie unquestionably, but also due to a professional failure presented at the start of the film which upends her. By contrast, Nai Nai is vivacious, energetic, mischievous (as her frequent, loving admonitions of "stupid child" towards Billi display) and determined to keep placing one foot in front of the other to continue moving onwards with the business of living life.
No, Lulu Wang has not created an updated version of Hal Ashby's "Harold And Maude" (1971) and for that matter, her depictions of youth and especially, old age never fall into well worn cliches. of essentially Nai Nai being an overgrown child. Through the effortless, excellent chemistry between Awkwafina and Zhao Shuzen, we are gifted with the full history of a family love at its purest, deepest affection and through these two actors, that same affection flows to the entire cast. In doing so, Lulu Wang gives us a collective of foreign and familiar individuals and encourages all of us to simply meet these people where they exist and follow them from this point onwards. Whatever lessons learned or insights gained are all are own...and that goes for all of the film's characters as well.
Lulu Wang's "The Farewell" is a bouquet of a film. A story of grief, failure, love, and family that is simultaneously specific to the culture depicted and also boundless when regarding race, ethnicity, geographical location, and even history. The events of this film are bound to conjure powerful emotions and memories in any viewer, I would think, as we will all experience similar events in one way or another within our own families. That is indeed what makes this film so unique, so splendidly special as it is a film that gracefully elicits the shared experience that occurs as we live and die together.
Lulu Wang's "The Farewell" is one of 2019's finest achievements.
No comments:
Post a Comment