Hold on while I cry for a minute. This is another movie that a lot of people were hoping to make the final cut of the Best Picture nominations earlier this year. I heard this was an emotional experience, so I knew I was in for a ride straight from pressing play. The Farewell is not an ordinary story because it's actually based on a real lie. It follows the journey that Billi, a young Chinese-American woman, finds out her beloved grandma has cancer. It's believed by the doctors Nai Nai only has weeks left to live. Billi then discovers her family refuses to tell her the truth. They go as far as creating a fake wedding to gather the family together one last time before she dies. As the family goes over to China to see and spend time with her, Billi struggles with the decision to keep Nai Nai's fate from her. The film is simple in its execution. There's no flamboyancy or loud explosives – in fact, a lot of the film is filled with silence and staring off into space. It shines a light on Chinese culture with a good mixture of Western differences in ideology. Watching Billi struggle and come to terms with the decision to leave her grandmother in the dark about her condition. It made me think... what would I do if I was Billi? Would I play along, or would I want to tell like Billi? It's hard to say, but I can't be envious of the position Billi is put in. It was refreshing to see this introduction to culture with such nuance and emotional complexity without too much distraction. Most of the movie is subtitled and is true to both language and culture throughout the story. While it is pretty heavy stuff to unpack, there's still moments of levity. Awkwafina is witty and on-point to give us a chuckle when we need it. Her portrayal of Billi is spectacular and a scene-stealer. I could connect with her and her distress, her joy, and her sorrow. It is possibly some of Awkwafina's best work yet. The number of times I had to convince myself to not cry the whole time was a lot. This was both a sad but delightful watch. In many ways, I can see the acclaim and why it was so deserved.
Pour one out for that lovely note at the end.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Candy JarThis is the place where I watch movies and then tell you what I think. Archives
November 2020
Categories
All
|