Meanwhile, Wang is currently working on a new film, an adaptation of the short story Children of the New World by Alexander Weinstein that takes place in the near future and, according to Wang, centers on questions of family and why we have children. "Thats a long thing that I am still dealing with, with my family, and whether or not we will keep the secret is up in the air, because we want to show her the movie," Wang recently told IndieWire. Lulu learned five years ago that her grandmother, her father's mother or, in Chinese, her Nai Nai had stage-four lung cancer; the doctor said she had three months left to live. The Farewell (Chinese: ; pinyin: Bi Gos T; lit. That's just the nature of being an immigrant and straddling two cultures. Talking about "The Farewell" - Boston College "[30] Brian Lowry of CNN.com described it as a "small, melancholy movie that explores cultural differences and dealing with death in an utterly charming, understated manner. Shed finished Crazy Rich Asians but it hadnt come out. The episode also gave her the high card and the courage to ask for everything she wanted. And, yet, as much as Billi disagrees with her family's decision, she also feels an inexorable pull toward the country in which she was born. Wang maintained the secrecy on set and her great-aunt, who played herself in the film, didn't tell Wang's grandmother the details of the story. To Wang, her story was nothing like that. Coronation Street actress Barbara Young dies aged 92, Nurses strike continues: Major disruption for NHS services in England, Additional flight to evacuate Britons from Sudan today, Ryanair cancels 220 flights over May 1 bank holiday due to strikes, Hardcore coronation fans already camped outside Buckingham Palace, One dead and seven injured in Cornwall nightclub knife attack. I have to admit I read that and I was like, Go mom, laughs Clea Newman Soderlund, speaking about her fathers posthumous memoir, Dakota Johnson on Family, Sexual AgencyAnd the Psychotic Making of, The 42 Best Romantic Comedies of All Time, We take stock of the best rom-coms everfrom, Scene Stealer: The True Lies of Elisabeth Finch, Part 1, Paul Newman Says Wife Joanne Woodward Turned Him Into a Sexual Creature in Posthumous Memoir. Within two weeks, with the help of another production company, Big Beach, The Farewell was financed and Wang was busy banging out a script. Incredibly, Nai Nai, and the family secret, survived long enough for her to discover both the deception . Wang and her family would have liked to keep it that way, but due to Chinese-language reviews published ahead ofThe Farewell's upcomingrelease in China, Wang's grandmother found out the truth. Nai Nai does have a limp in real life, but it wasn't from being shot, which Lulu admits is fiction. It's a little astonishing that Wang was able to keep that secret from her grandmother, through the shooting ofThe Farewelland as the film garnered praise at film festivals and award shows. She was 80 years old, and my family, for reasons I'll get into in a minute, decided not to tell her. Awkwafina, was asking to audition. Filmmaker, alumna Lulu Wang '05 will discuss "The Farewell" at virtual event March 25. Rather than revealing the news directly to Wang's 80-year-old grandmother, doctors instead told her grandmother's sister (Wang's Great-Aunt Hong Lu) the news, who passed it along to the family. I knew right away I wanted to do it as a movie, says Wang, over the phone from her home in Los Angeles ahead of the films Scottish premiere at this years Glasgow Youth Film Festival. You can't tell me what it's about. Awkwafina as Billi and Zhao Shuzhen as Nai Nai. Wang's grandmother even visited the set, which was shot at her hometown in China. "They wanted it to be my big, fat Chinese wedding," says Wang of her Sundance smash The Farewell, starring Awkwafina. It was a brilliant combo of audio theater and investigative journalism. Photo: courtesy of A24 Films. He just thought he was weird and got made fun of. Lulu Wang's Nai Nai was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2013. TVs Streaming Bubble Has Burst, a Writers Strike Looms, and Everybody Is Freaking Out, Its Either Going to Be Really Funny, or Theyre Going to Be Horrified: An Oral History of. The Farewell (2019), apparently based on a real story, is a light-weight comedy that mainly explores the difference customs and values of China and the USA. 2023 Cond Nast. I heard this extraordinary true story, this beautiful complete story. Well, she remembers telling him, there was this one thing about my grandmother. Meet Awkwafina, the Breakout Star of 'Crazy Rich Asians' When Lulu Wang's grandmother was diagnosed with a terminal illness, her family in China decided not to tell her, inspiring the US-based director to make culture-clash drama The Farewell. As she told The Hollywood Reporter, the fact that a script which was then named Nai Nai, the Chinese word for grandmother, and was written by an Asian-American woman had come across her radar was too unique to pass up. Sign up here for our daily Thrillist email and subscribe here for our YouTube channel to get your fix of the best in food/drink/fun. ", "Barack Obama's Favorite Movies and TV Shows of 2019", "The 2020 Film Independent Spirit Award Nominees are Here! The problem was no one else did. [5], Lulu Wang faced whitewashing obstacles when pitching her film about a Chinese American family. 'The Farewell's' Lulu Wang and Awkwafina want you to cry, then call The Farewell screens at the Glasgow Youth Film Festival on 13 September and goes on nationwide release on 20 September. Lulu Wang's indie hit, starring Awkwafina and Zhao Shuzhen, may be an awards contender, but that doesn't mean the film is easily categorized. Participants include:Pedro Almodvar (PAIN AND GLORY), Bong Joon Ho (PARASITE), Ladj Ly (LES MISRABLES), Cline Sciamma (PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE) and Lulu Wang (THE FAREWELL). The film ends with the revelation that Wang's real-life grandmother, who was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer in 2013, is still alive and still unaware of her diagnosis. The tiny creatures first appear in an early scene when one mysteriously breaks into Billi's Bushwick apartment. No, at least not according to Wang, who says that she told her grandmother that the film was about their family, emigrating to America, and returning for a reunion in the form of a wedding. That immediacy of storytelling reminded me why I became a storyteller in the first place. Oh, she already wants to see it, says Wang. The night it aired, Wangs friend took her to a sushi bar to celebrate. Awkwafina (left) with Lulu Wang in New York in June. We couldnt tell her what the movie was about! Wang says. (There are mild spoilers ahead.). Wang already had one film under her belt her 2014 debut Posthumous which, by her own admission, hadnt quite turned out the way shed hoped. She decided to write out the tale of deceiving her grandmother as a short story. When I come across people who have [original] stories they want to tell, they feel like they have to tell those stories in some other medium first in order to get any traction.. Things that we don't see. Its really rare when you can think, Oh, this would make a perfect movie. "I imagine once the movie comes out, she will have to find some kind of way to still put up this front. The experience allowed Wang to prove to herself that she had the chops, initiative, and know-how to make a movie if she wanted to. And the review said, 'The film is based on Lulu Wong's real life. Zhao Shuzhen plays Nai Nai, the 'Farewell' character everyone loves That night, Nai Nai gives Billi a hngbo, encouraging her to spend the money as she chooses. July 12, 2019, 12:15 PM. But she was suffering a crisis of faith in the film industry she had worked so hard to be a part of. He goes, Hey, do you remember when we had that conversation here, and you said youd never feel this creatively satisfied again? Wang claims her grandmother eventually found out from discussing the movie with her little sister, who plays herself in the movie. Thats kind of also what Billis character is [going through]. I don't envy Wang in finally having that conversation to her grandmother about the diagnosis, but at least she could finally see the movie that is getting her granddaughter so much acclaim. Yes. "We couldn't tell her what the movie was about!" This news won't be shocking to anyone who listened to Wang'sThis American Lifeepisode from 2016 about the same subject, but it nevertheless acts as a welcome surprise given that the conclusion otherwise felt tragically cathartic. "I thought, if I cant make it the way I want to make it, I dont want to make it at all. But I could just tell there was something really rich there.. Her grandmother was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer in 2013. "Whether or not we will keep the secret is up in the air, because we want to show her the movie," the director recently told IndieWire. However, the true story behind The Farewell revealed that Lulu Wang's grandma was still alive when the movie was releasedin 2019. [11] In an interview with Filmmaker, cinematographer Anna Franquesa Solano stated that the references for the film included Force Majeure and Still Walking. Casi Moss/Courtesy of Big Beach. Struggling to understand her identity and her place in society, Joan keeps a low personal profile but is keen to share her thoughts with the wider world. ", The reasoning behind keeping a secret like this from the real Nai Nai is "to make sure the person still lives a happy and carefree life, and that their condition does not get worse," Shuzhen said, and from her experiences meeting with Nai Nai, that's been the case. I dont think shed done Oceans 8. It added a good aspect to this story. 585: In Defense of Ignorance - This American Life The Farewellopens with a title card declaring that the film is based on an actual lie from director Lulu Wangs own life. When my grandmother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, she was given three months to live. There's energy. Best Supporting Grandma? For 'The Farewell,' an Oscar Campaign Begins All revealed the same prognosis. In an interview with Vox, Wang was asked whether her grandmother will see the film. The only caveat: Nobody could tell Nai Nai the truth. Her second and most recent . "While this process was unfolding, [Lulu Wang] was constantly reminding us, 'Dont leak this,'" Shuzhen said. "[8], The film was primarily shot in Changchun, China, over the course of 24 days in June 2018. Shooting around the real Nai Nai created an extra challenge for the cast and crew who had to make sure they didn't let anything slip. The family, however, told Nai Nai that she was just fine, that the doctor had given her a clean bill of health. And so thats why I made the film.. Credit: AP "My goal is to leave people talking about the film, or talking about their own lives and their own family, or calling their grandma . A few other ideas for potential sophomore projects started to take shape here and there. The whole atmosphere of the trip, the wild way we were keeping this story up I wasnt sure how I was going to turn it into a film. It brought joy to all of us.. It was awkward to keep the secret when the grandmother visited the filming, a block from her home. Id also come to accept that it wasnt my decision; it was my familys decision. As Shuzhen, who played Nai Nai in the film, also told IndieWire in a separate interview, the whole cast and crew had to take part in the family's lie, too. Things went smoothly as they made the festival circuit, because "it's an American festival, so it's never going to leave the country, and your grandma doesn't go on the internet, she doesn't read English, so it's fine.". But while Wang's family's story has been broadcast on This American Life and on theater screens nationwide, The Farewell still hasn't hit China, and per IndieWire, the real Nai Naiwho is still alive despite the three-month prognosis given to her in 2013still hasn't seen it nor been told what exactly the movie is all about, though she does know it's "loosely based" on the family. In the film, the Chinese American woman played by Awkwafina, battles with her family . She's always felt like an outsider. "There's a spiritual connection or energetic -- spiritual maybe sounds too whoop-dee-doo. "I'm saying it now, getting really emotional. 'The Farewell': Lulu Wang's Truth, Lies, and the Long Goodbye I have a fat face and Im going to ruin everything. Finally, one day I sat my great-aunt down and said, Listen, we all love you, but if this is going to be difficult for you emotionally. And she told me, No, I have to do this. The Farewell's release in China was recently delayed, which Variety suggested could be due to the film's likelihood of winning upcoming major American movie awards and potentially boosting its potential success in China. Can you spoil The Farewell? Lulu Wang. Wang is writing the script now. And I said my brother went through that. When filmmaker Lulu Wang decided to make a feature about the strange turn of events that followed her beloved grandmothers cancer diagnosis, though, she faced a more unusual challenge: how to make a movie based on an actual lie. My mom's a writer and my dad was a former diplomat and they would be in the apartment. [1] In its opening weekend the film made $355,662 from four theaters for an average of $88,916 per venue; at the time, it was the best average of 2019, besting Avengers: Endgame's $76,601. [20][21] The film expanded further to over 800 theaters in the next few weeks, $1.4 million from 861 theaters, $882,623 from 816 theaters and $841,414 from 891 theaters. Excerpt from the Golden Globe Foreign-Language Film Symposium presented by the American Cinematheque and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on Saturday, January 4, 2020 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Sharing her story first as an episode of the NPR podcast and radio show This American Life back in 2016, Wang realised the amount of internal conflict that she was struggling with as she tried to respect her familys wishes and process her own grief at the imminent loss of her Nai Nai was what made the story interesting. Jian Yongbo, Kmamura Aio, Chen Han, Tzi Ma, Awkwafina, Li Ziang, Tzi Ma, Lu Hong and Zhao Shuzhen in. You cant tell me the title. Based on Wangs own life, the film centres on a Chinese American womans family refusal to tell the grandmother that she has cancer. Billi assures her parents that she will not reveal the cancer diagnosis to Nai Nai. Lulu Wang was in Berlin in 2013, editing her first film, when she got the call: Her grandmother in China, whod briefly taken her in when her parents fled the country in 1989, was terminally ill. Like, a million times over! "[25] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 89 out of 100 based on 47 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". I knew I had to make this film for me and anyone else who may be understood me, she said. Did I end up conscripting an entire films cast and crew into this lie? Throughout the trip, however, she clashes with the rest of the family over their deliberate dishonesty towards her grandmother. Though much ofThe Farewellgrapples with mortality, the point of Wang's piece is not what happens to Nai Nai, even though it's nice to know there's a happy ending. And somehow that just clicked for him and he became a lot less awkward and things made sense to him as a child. The Farewell thoughtfully explores that moment where grief and sadness collide with comedy . "I very much felt the way that Billi in the movie feels, which is that it's wrong to lie," Wang told People magazine. There are things that we don't see that are in motion that dictate our lives that we are not in control of.". '", As we sit on a couch in Park City, Utah, a few days after the film's first screening, Wang's voice begins to crack as she explains how her life changed when her parents emigrated. The lightly fictionalized film finds Awkwafina's character Billi in the same situation, grappling with her own impending loss and frustration with the cultural practice of secrecy. She wasnt suspicious; everybody on the crew knew not to tell her. Throughout the movie, she struggles to navigate between her conscience and her family's whims once she finds out that her beloved grandmother - or Nai . Now The Farewellis opening in theaters around the country and Nai Nai is still, happily, aliveand well, now in her mid-80s. And after opening in New York and Los Angeles last weekend, it had, according to Variety, the best per-screen average of 2019 to date. You just made it up for the movie.. It was 2016, and Lulu Wang was done with filmmaking. THE FAREWELL director Lulu Wang tells the harrowing tale about how she kept the content of her film about her grandmother a secret from her grandmother while shooting it right under her nose in her grandmothers neighborhood in China. Making of 'The Farewell': How Lulu Wang Captured Grief and Love With a "It makes it harder. [26], Eric Kohn of IndieWire gave the film an A grade and praised Awkwafina's performance, writing, "As a Chinese-American grappling with the traditionalism of her past and its impact on the future, she's an absorbing engine for the movie's introspective look at a most unusual family reunion.
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