The Farewell

by Philip Price

Director: Lulu Wang
Starring: Awkwafina, Tzi Ma & Diana Lin
Rated: PG
Runtime: 1 hour & 40 minutes

“Don’t spend it on practical things like rent! Buy yourself something nice,” is maybe the most “grandmother” thing one can say and “The Farewell” certainly knows how to home in on the very best aspects of what makes grandmothers “grandmothers”. And yet, what is most appealing and refreshing about Lulu Wang’s film and its approach to its delicate subject matter is that it’s as equally sweet and simple as you remember the world as seen through your grandma’s eyes while layering in the complexities and complications of your modern, adult environment. 
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As someone who no longer has either of their grandmothers with them, but was respectably close to both if not much closer to one than the other it came as something of a shock (and a reality check) when it became clear in the years following their deaths that there was as much to be derived about these women I only knew at a very specific stage of their lives from those they most influenced when they were alive as there was to be learned from what they taught me face to face ... maybe even more so. In other words, this idea of paying it forward and the importance of not necessarily personal legacy but doing one’s small part to ensure continued decency came to be that much clearer. The idea of “paying it forward” is undoubtedly admirable, but “The Farewell” is about paying things back; it’s good to look forward, it’s right to nurture the future, but it’s essential to honor those that brought us to this point as well. 

Deceivingly simple in its approach, “The Farewell” for a fair portion of its running time seemed as if it were destined to be one of those indie darlings that received such high praise so early out the gate that by the time it reached my unimportant market would be diminished by lofty expectations and yet, as the film’s third act begins and it draws its lines to the center to connect these seemingly disparate, but altogether necessary strands the impact of what Wang has crafted hits you full force. I was in tears.

Also, Alex Weston’s score is the unsung hero of the piece and deserves to be nominated for all the awards. For lack of a better phrase, it truly makes the film sing.