The Farewell (2019)

A Chinese family discovers their grandmother has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to gather before she dies.

Director:

Lulu Wang

Writer:

Lulu Wang

Stars:

Shuzhen Zhao, Awkwafina, X Mayo

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 32 wins & 167 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shuzhen Zhao	...	Nai Nai
Awkwafina	...	Billi
X Mayo	...	Suze
Hong Lu	...	Little Nai Nai (as Lu Hong)
Hong Lin	...	Doctor Wu (as Lin Hong)
Tzi Ma	...	Haiyan
Diana Lin	...	Lu Jian
Yang Xuejian	...	Mr. Li
Becca Khalil	...	Shirley
Yongbo Jiang	...	Uncle Haibin (as Jiang Yongbo)
Han Chen	...	Hao Hao (as Chen Han)
Aoi Mizuhara	...	Aiko
Xiang Li	...	Aunty Ling (as Li Xiang)
Hongli Liu	...	Aunty Gao (as Liu Hongli)
Shimin Zhang	...	Michael (as Zhang Shiming)

Storyline

A headstrong Chinese-American woman returns to China when her beloved grandmother is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Billi struggles with her family's decision to keep grandma in the dark about her own illness as they all stage an impromptu wedding to see grandma one last time.

---

Plot Keywords:

cemetery | doctor | grief | lie | secret | 

---

Taglines:

Based on an Actual Lie

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic material, brief language and some smoking.

Did You Know?

Trivia

In an interview with Terry Gross on NPR's "Fresh Air" on July 24, 2019, Lulu Wang related how she had considerably underestimated the rates she would have to pay Chinese actors, citing how Shuzhen Zhao, who portrays Nai Nai, is a very popular actress in China and how she had to personally plead with her to accept this role.

---

Goofs

1:22:14 As Billi runs down the street, the crew van with it's door open is reflected in the last billboard.

---

Quotes

Billi: Okay, when were you guys going to tell me this? How could you let me find out like this?
Jian: How should I have told you? "Oh, your grandma's on the roof".

---

Connections

Featured in The Oscars (2020)

---

Soundtracks

Come Healing
Written by Leonard Cohen & Patrick Leonard
Performed by Elayna Boynton
Produced by Alex Weston

User Reviews

It Will Break Your Heart but Will Leave You Wanting More

I don't really know how I can describe the feeling I felt at the end of the movie. It is heartbreaking especially one of the later shots but you kind of feel like you need more resolution or more of an end.

And I know films don't always need a clear cut beginning and end but I just felt like the characters didn't really grow or change. Like I felt we ended exactly where we started the film. Like nothing changed.

One more negative thing was the tone seemed a bit all over the shop. Very sad scenes would play out and then it would drop the dramatic effect for comedy and it just didn't seem to flow very well into each other. And some sequences just seemed like they belonged in entirely different movies like The Hangover or something. It was kind of strange.

I actually enjoyed this movie believe it or not. You could tell it was lovingly made and was so personal. Awkwafina was great and so was Shuzhen Zhao. The films was best when them two were sharing scenes together. They made you feel how much the characters cared for each other.

The score was also quite haunting. It fit the sombreness of the movie.

So I would say you could watch it but you need to be in the right mood as it can get pretty sad.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA China

Language:

Mandarin English Japanese Italian

Release Date:

9 August 2019 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Farewell

Filming Locations:

Changchun, China

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$355,662, 14 July 2019

Gross USA:

$17,695,781

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$23,076,657

Company Credits

Production Co:

Big Beach Films, Depth of Field, Kindred Spirit

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1