The Farewell movie: Greg and Zanna review the Chinese festival hit

The Farewell.

Greg and Zanna watch a movie about the power of dishonesty.

SCORES
Lulu Wang: 1
Studio execs: 0

SHE SAW

For Chinese Language Week, we watched The Farewell, a film in which the lead character Billi's poor grasp of Chinese is frequently the butt of the joke. Awkwafina, who plays that character, was born and raised in New York and had to learn Chinese for the film. She worked hard to achieve a level that would get her made fun of in the film, which is to say learning a new language is difficult and any and all attempts to speak more than one should be applauded.

The Farewell is a beautiful film: subtle, naturalistic, funny and deeply moving. I cried big tears. What it does so well is capture the bicultural experience for second-generation immigrants. It's the story of a young woman who returns to China to farewell her grandmother who has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and is struggling with the family's decision not to tell "Nai Nai" about the diagnosis. Based on director Lulu Wang's real-life experience, the film forefronts the very real effects of the Chinese diaspora on generations growing up away from the mainland. More than just losing the language, they're developing non-Chinese ways of thinking.

This non-Chinese way of thinking is something that Wang has been criticised for by the mainland Chinese audience, some of whom felt the film othered Chinese culture. Of course, in some ways it does, and perhaps that's why the film was so much better received by a Western audience, but it is true to Wang's experience as a Chinese-American. She suffers from being too Chinese to be American and too American to be Chinese, which is the unique perspective of this film. It's not a Chinese film, despite the script being almost entirely in Chinese, and it's not entirely American, despite it being an American production.

Perhaps the most culturally insensitive thing the film does is to reveal the diagnosis to Nai Nai, Wang's real-life grandmother, who against the odds was still alive when the film was released. The secret was kept from Nai Nai throughout production in her hometown, where she would regularly visit the set, oblivious to what the film was about. But when it became a hit and was released under the Chinese title Don't Tell Her, Nai Nai discovered the truth. Given that the film is all about Billi/Lulu suppressing her deep, likely Western-influenced, desire to spill the beans, the fact the film ultimately did it anyway probably has Wang's Chinese family rolling their eyes at their cousin who just couldn't keep her big American mouth shut.

HE SAW

Lulu Wang's true story started life on the radio show/podcast This American Life, where it was heard by movie producers who got in touch to help her turn the story into a movie. Once they began shopping it around, the studios wanted a bunch of changes. Among other things, they wanted it made in English, wanted it to be a broad comedy, and wanted to change the story so Wang's character gets married. Presumably, they thought these changes would make the movie better or at least more commercially successful. Wang said no to every one of these suggestions and instead made a thoughtful, poignantly funny drama, almost entirely in Chinese, in which she not only never got married but never had a romantic relationship of any sort. As she told the Seattle Times: "I thought, if I can't make it the way I want to make it, I don't want to make it at all."

Movie studio executives are not known for being flexible, and for a young and inexperienced film-maker (this was Wang's second movie) to take a stand against their stupid ideas was brave, given the likelihood it would end in the non-production of her story. The prospect of having your family's story turned into a major motion picture must be very attractive both financially and egotistically, in such a way that you could be excused for giving way on many of your principles when pressured by a bunch of dicks in suits.

The Farewell is subtle, intriguing and funny and it made seven times more at the box office than it cost to produce. It's impossible to say whether it would have been a better or more commercially successful movie were it a broad romantic comedy made in English, but if it's impossible to say, then why say anything?

The movie is dominated by scenes of the extended family sitting around, pretending nothing bad has happened, submerging their own impulses to speak their mind because they understand their thoughts are not necessarily the right ones. There's a lesson in there for all of us.

The Farewell is available to rent on Apple TV+, Neon and Google Play.