Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: The Farewell

November 12, 2019

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The Farewell

The Farewell opened in limited release this past summer and earned nearly perfect reviews and became one of the biggest limited release hits of the year. Its success does create a lot of expectations. Can it live up to these high expectations? Or is it better to have a more cautious approach to the film?

The Movie

The film begins with a phone call between Billi and her Nai Nai, her paternal grandmother. We quickly learn this is a family that lies to each other, a lot. They are not malicious in their lies, but are just trying to keep the other from worrying. For example, Billi lies about wearing a hat when her Nai Nai worries about her being cold. Not all of the lies are that small. Nai Nai lies about where she is, because she’s calling from the hospital. She’s there doing tests, because she might have lung cancer. She does. It’s stage four terminal cancer and she only has a few months to live. However, her family has been lying to her about that telling her the initial test that found shadows was nothing and she’s in top health.

The family aren’t monsters about this and they do have legitimate concerns. As Billi’s mother and father say, there’s a saying in China, “When people get cancer, they die.” It is not the disease that kills them, but the fear, so by not telling Nai Nai, they are giving her the best possible life for as long as possible. They are also not going to leave her alone. Billi’s cousin, Hao Hao is going to go home to China to marry his girlfriend, Aiko, as a cover for everyone to return home and be with Nai Nai one last time. ... Billi isn’t invited. Everyone is worried that she can’t control her emotions and she will ruin the deception and kill Nai Nai in the process. She ignores everyone else who thinks she should go and arrives unexpectedly. She doesn’t ruin the secret right away, but the wedding isn’t right away either and there’s still time for someone to let it slip.

And that’s as much of the plot as I’m willing to give. It’s a character driven film, so the plot isn’t as important as the character interactions and those quickly march into spoiler territory.

The Farewell

Review

I am going to be seriously pissed off if The Farewell doesn’t get a lot of Awards Season attention. It is one of the best films I’ve seen this year and there’s not a single aspect of this film that isn’t praise-worthy. It does make it harder to write a review, as getting into the details of what works and what doesn’t work can be summed up as everything works and I have no real complaints. Writer / director Lulu Wang based the movie on her real life family and you can tell this is a deeply personal story and you can tell how carefully the film has been crafted. Additionally, Awkwafina is simply amazing in the lead bringing the right mixture of comedy and drama. In fact, the entire ensemble cast is fantastic. There truly isn’t a weak link in the group.

While The Farewell is made by and for Asian-Americans, and it is specifically about a Chinese family, the themes are more universal. Obviously if you are part of this culture, you have a deeper connection to some of the themes, but I think most everyone will be drawn into the film. I think every family has dealt with something similar to this, although hopefully most people have not been involved in something this extreme. Additionally, Billi's emotional journey will resonate with most people, especially if you come from an immigrant family. The conflict between family traditions and the values of your new home is a common conflict. And even if you don’t have that connection to the movie, it is just really funny and touching at the same time.

The Extras

Extras begin with an audio commentary track featuring writer / director Lulu Wang and the Director of Photography Anna Franquesa-Solano. There is also a 16-minute featurette with Lulu Wang about how the film was inspired by real life events in her life and the process she went through to get it made. The star of the movie, Awkwafina, sits down for a nine-minute interview. Finally, there are two deleted scenes. This is a great selection of extras for a limited release.

The Verdict

The Farewell is one of the best movies I’ve seen this year and the DVD / Blu-ray have more extras than most limited releases have. It is a clear contender for Pick of the Week.

Filed under: Video Review, The Farewell, Tzi Ma, Awkwafina, Lulu Wang, Diana Lin, Zhao Shuzhen, Anna Franquesa-Solano, Chen Han, Aoi Mizuhara