‘The Farewell’ looks at the truths and lies that tie our families together

Posted on August 9, 2019

By MARK VIOLA

We’ve all told “little white lies” that we felt were for good reasons. But, what if that little lie was about something much more serious, even a matter of life and death?

That’s the central conflict of “The Farewell,” written and directed by Lulu Wang (“Posthumous”) and “based on an actual lie.” This is a wonderful film about family, culture, distance, time, life and death, and the truths and lies that tie them all together.

The story centers on Billi (Awkwafina, “Crazy Rich Asians”), a Chinese-American woman living in New York City, where she’s lived since her family moved there when she was a very young girl. Struggling to find her way alone, her foundation is rocked upon learning that her beloved grandmother, Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhao), has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and likely only has a few months to live.

That initial surprise is overtaken by the separate shock of learning that the family has decided not to tell Nai Nai of the diagnosis, apparently a not uncommon practice in Chinese families. Instead, they have decided to move up the wedding of Billi’s cousin to provide a reason for the entire family to return home to China to see Nai Nai one last time.

As we see all of this through Billi’s eyes, it is a conflict of cultures, but this is not a story focused on saying one is right and the other is wrong. This is simply about the love of family, and the lies that come with it.

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