The Farewell (2019)
Directed by Lulu Wang
A headstrong Chinese-American woman returns to China when her beloved grandmother is given a terminal diagnosis. 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.
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4 films that influenced The Farewell
What critics say influenced The Farewell
Wang’s visual sensibility is reminiscent of Sofia Coppola – there are scenes of walking around a foreign city, or looking out of car windows, that seem like very deliberate references to the alienation of Lost in Translation, but without the condescending “othering” of the city the film takes place in.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: The other elephant in the room we can’t avoid is a comparison with The Wedding Banquet , Ang Lee’s breakthrough, a comedy with a big-fat-lie plot; here’s hoping Wang has a Brokeback Mountain or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in her future.
For moviegoers, whether they grew up with “The Philadelphia Story” (1940), “The Godfather” (1972), or “Rachel Getting Married” (2008), the gathering of a clan is scarcely untrodden ground.
Best known for her breakout comedic performances in Crazy Rich Asians and Ocean’s 8, Awkwafina remains a master of the quip – providing this film with its much-needed moments of humour, alongside the raw affection shown by Zhao Shuzhen as Nai Nai.
She broke into film as the funniest thing in the dire comedy Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising and provided comic relief in the female-driven heist romp Ocean's 8. Her role as the wisecracking best friend to the reluctant bride in last year's Crazy Rich Asians threatened to overshadow star Constance Wu.
But look at us now with The Farewell having already made over $14 million at the U.S. domestic box office and last year’s Crazy Rich Asians – another film directed by and starring a largely Asian cast – having pulled in nearly $180 million.
New York writer and performer Awkwafina played the Eve Arden part in Crazy Rich Asians.
She can play it big, stealing the show as the heroine's outrageous best friend in Crazy Rich Asians or the motormouth pickpocket in Ocean's 8. Or she can play it small, sliding right into an intimate ensemble drama like this one.
She rose to notoriety as a humorous rapper before branching out into acting (most notably in supporting roles in Ocean's 8 and Crazy Rich Asians), and she's been viewed as primarily a comic actress.