Yes. Filmmaker Lulu Wang and star Awkwafina on "The Farewell," the family drama "based on an actual lie" about a woman visiting her beloved grandma in China. We got distribution in China. We want to hear it. Gallery The Best Twist Endings of All Time. Wang's Nai Nai is still alive today but hasn't seen the film because she still doesn't know. The coda tacks a little bit of joy onto the narrative: Wang's Nai Nai is still alive and still doesn't know that she was ever supposedly dying. 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. [19] It continued to expand in the following weeks, making $2.4 million from 426 theaters and then $2.2 million from 705 theaters. It is ironic that films only get made now if they exist in another medium, added Weitz. I thought I might as well give it a try, said Weitz, who was drawn to the conundrum at the center of the film, the notion that lying to a loved one can actually be a good thing. Her grandmother was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer in 2013. Wang's mother told her over the phone, not in person like in the movie. How a filmmaker turned a real-life fib about death into a funny, bittersweet movie about her family and scored a genuine crossover hit, 'The purpose of the lie was to bring joy. A wedding for Billi's cousin from Japan, Hao Hao, has been planned in China as an excuse to unite the family to spend what is expected to be one last time with Nai Nai. Yes, I did, Wang says, laughing. Her grandmother, nicknamed Nai Nai, who today, at 86, is still alive, welcomed the visit, still in the dark about the real premise of the film. But for me, going back and having agency allowed me to see the city as an adult. The Farewell screens at the Glasgow Youth Film Festival on 13 September and goes on nationwide release on 20 September. "This was our plan," says Lulu Wang, "a giant goodbye party disguised as a giant wedding banquet." To spare Nai Nai from the stress of knowing her condition, the family flies to China and stages an elaborate fake wedding in order to see her one last time. "[11], Director Lulu Wang says that she kept the secret from her grandmother during and after film production. 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.. And so she said to little Nai Nai, her sister, who plays herself in the movie, she said, 'I just thought that you were really daft, because you went and shot a movie, you went to the premiere in New York, and you come back and you can't tell me anything about it. And the title of the movie is Dont Tell Her in Chinese. "They were originally going to shoot in Nai Nai's real apartment and then eventually realized that would be too much. Yeah, its great that you have this premise and that the grandmother is dying. And her friend saw a review of it and was so proud of her, one of her longest friends, and sent it to her. And so she said to little Nai Nai, her sister, who plays herself in the movie, she said, I just thought that you were really daft, because you went and shot a movie, you went to the premiere in New York, and you come back and you cant tell me anything about it. Once its released in China, thats going to be trickier, but that date hasnt been set yet so everyone is like, Well deal with that problem when it actually comes.. Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. No one really saw my perspective. The Farewell (Chinese: ; pinyin: Bi Gos T; lit. never to see her grandma again, the fade to black blooms into footage of the real Nai Nai still alive and zesty six years later. Lulu Wang's Nai Nai did join the Chinese Army at age 14 to escape an arranged marriage. And so that was the moment for me that ignited the scene and what the climax of the movie was. As stated in the movie, Chinese law allows keeping a prognosis from a family member, something that is both unheard of and illegal in the United States. So I was driven to make the film by the juxtaposition of love and joy with grief and being angry with my family, but on some level understanding it at the same time, and just having a lot of questions and not having any answers for them., If I talked to my American friends, would have the American answer, and then my family would have the Chinese answer, the Chinese American director said. One night, her uncle, Haibin, contends that the lie allows the family to bear the emotional burden of the diagnosis, rather than Nai Nai herselfa practice of collectivism that Haibin acknowledges differs from the individualistic values common in Western culture. 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.". Lulu Wang's deeply personal, disarmingly universal story of culture clash and family grief became an indie phenomenon when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last year.Based on Wang's own . She knew she had a film in the personal tale of her Chinese familys quest to keep her aging grandmother in the dark about her cancer diagnosis. Why is it in Mandarin? Like, a million times over! [7][6], Wang said that the film was based on her grandmother's illness, stating that "I always felt the divide in my relationship to my family versus my relationship to my classmates and to my colleagues and to the world that I inhabit. There's energy. Copyright 2023 HistoryvsHollywood.com, CTF Media. The result was a segment on an episode of the long-running radio series titled In Defense of Ignorance that debuted in April 2016. I was like, OK, but you realize that means this will be 75 percent in Mandarin,' she recalls. That direct connection. It wasn't until he went back to China for the first time when he was 4 years old that he was suddenly like, 'Oh, I come from some place. Theres just one tiny bit of information shes not getting. On the first day of shooting, Nai Nai wanted to bless the set, causing Lulu to run around and confiscate dozens of crew shirts bearing the productions Nai Nai LLC logo. To me, its a very American story because Im American, and its just about me going back to a place where I dont understand and Im trying to understand, she said. The film follows a Chinese American family who, upon learning their grandmother has only a short while left to live, decide not to tell her and schedule a family gathering before she dies. "There's a spiritual connection or energetic -- spiritual maybe sounds too whoop-dee-doo. Yes. Its a decision that both upset the American-raised Wang (who wanted to tell her), but also fascinated her, inspiring her to write and direct The Farewell, a bittersweet comedy drama thats in the process of becoming a genuine break-out hit after racking up higher per-screen averages than Avengers Endgame when it went on limited release in the US this summer. Hed seen her movie, loved her voice, was interested in working with her on something. The Chinese also believe that mental and emotional health are directly linked to physical health. And so you just felt very torn. But: What if the main character is the bride, she breaks up with her white boyfriend, they have to get married to keep this lie to Grandma going, and then guess who falls back in love, and., Its like, I see the film youre envisioning because that film already exists! Wang adds. I got to share the American part of my life with my family in China and the Chinese part of my life with my colleagues. And the review said, The film is based on Lulu Wongs real life. "We couldn't tell her what the movie was about!" It's something that Wang wonders. When the movie went into production last year, not only did Wang cast her real aunt (who instigated the lie), she shot it two blocks from her grandmothers neighbourhood in Changchun and, let her visit the set. ", It's easy to summarize The Farewell as being about one young woman's internal culture clash, but there's a transcendence to the film easily summed up by the recurring image of the sparrow. Prior to making the movie, writer/director Lulu Wang told the story of her family's little white lie in an April 2016 episode of the. Her family threw a fake wedding for her cousin from Japan and her grandmother didn't know. Little Nainai is certain her big sister is still alive because of her decision to lie to her, because we gave Nainai joy instead of . It was 2016, and Lulu Wang was done with filmmaking. I heard this extraordinary true story, this beautiful complete story. 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. No. Brunet, an acclaimed French filmmaker, says HBO Maxs adaptation doesnt accurately represent her 13-year relationship with accused murderer Michael Peterson. Awkwafina, was asking to audition. The Farewell opens with a title card declaring that the film is "based on an actual lie" from director Lulu Wang's own life. Through deception and manipulation of medical test results, the diagnosis is kept a secret from Nai Nai herself. But what about the real grandmother that the story is based on? Told by doctors that Nai Nai has three months to live, the family decides to hide her diagnosis from her and gathers at their home in China to say goodbye under the pretense of a wedding. She understood the cultural balancing act of being viewed as primarily Chinese in America and primarily American in China. "[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. They just want to put me in this box, andunless I can do this kind of storytelling, its not worth it for me to do all that.. She said: 'And then it was just the three of us.' It's true that doctors often break bad news to members of the family instead of the patients themselves. Why isnt your protagonist the bride in the wedding? According to Wang no one understood the story she was pitching about her internal conflict over lying to her grandmother, with whom she is still very close. 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. The problem was no one else did. [My grandmother] actually just found out, Wang said. And its very traumatic that its coming out in China. "It's so meta," said Wang with a laugh. With A $21M Opening", "Keira Knightley in 'Official Secrets' and Molly Ivins Doc 'Raise Hell' Lead New Openers", "Awkwafina Proves She's More Than a Comedian in The Farewell", "Is The Farewell the olive branch the US-China culture war needs? The only caveat: Nobody could tell Nai Nai the truth. Still, when About a Boy director Chris Weitz asked to meet for coffee, she accepted. She was 80 years old, and my family, for reasons I'll get into in a minute, decided not to tell her. December 3, 2019, 3:48pm. -NPR. Instead of toasting, Wang, who still desperately wanted to adapt her story for the big screen, burst into tears. Billi keeps her promise to maintain the lie. Her family threw a fake wedding for her cousin from Japan and her grandmother didnt know. -People. 3 Is Yet Another Big Marvel Movie Misstep, Rachel Weisz Doubles Down in Dead Ringers, To Love Tupac Was to Fight With Tupac: Why Allen Hughes Needed to Make Dear Mama, Academy Slaps Down New Rules After Andrea Riseborough, Tom Cruise, Michelle Yeoh Controversies, Here's Where to Watch 'Scream 6' (and All the 'Scream' Movies) Online, Ryan Murphy Sets Sights on Menndez Brothers for 'Monster' Season 2, White House Plumbers Gives Watergate the Veep Treatment and Misses Big, Roy Wood Jr. But she was suffering a crisis of faith in the film industry she had worked so hard to be a part of. The Farewell was a huge hit at Sundance, sparking a bidding war that ended with Wang turning down an additional $8 million from a streaming service to tie her wagon to A24, the film company behind Moonlight and Lady Bird. So making this film became part of the lie. Maybe I was hoping for that to make the story more interesting, but I never got that. Somehow, it is. All revealed the same prognosis. You cant tell me the title. July 12, 2019, 12:15 PM. Starring Awkwafina as a struggling writer in New York and based on a "true lie" from Wang's life, the film tells the story of a Chinese-American family that, upon learning their grandmother has cancer, decides not to tell her and instead stages a mock . This felt like a real-life screwball comedy, but as the situation unfolded what was really interesting was how emotional the whole experience had been for me, but also how undramatic it was from an external perspective. Photo via IMDB. In a Slate interview, director Lulu Wang revealed that The Farewell led to her own grandmother discovering she had cancer. Awkwafina was cast as Billi, Wangs avatar, while her own aunt Hong Lu played the aunt in the film, Little Nai Nai. It added a good aspect to this story. Wang and cinematographer Anna Franquesa Solano. Scene Stealer: The True Lies of Elisabeth Finch, Part 2. "We had to whisper scenes, it was real," Awkwafina explained during an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences screening I moderated. "I imagine once the movie comes out, she will have to find some kind of way to still put up this front. ", Writer/Director Lulu Wang says that the character Billi (played by Crazy Rich Asians' Awkwafina) is only semi-autobiographical. Then Wangs relatives fast-tracked a cousins planned wedding as an excuse for everyone to visit the elderly matriarch one last time. "Six years after her diagnosis, Nai Nai is still with us," reads a caption at the . "Whenever Im there with my family, I basically revert to a childlike state. The Farewell (Chinese: ; pinyin: Bi Gos T; lit. Billi disobeys her parents' orders and flies to Changchun shortly after the rest of the family arrive there. She explored the possibility of turning her life into a film, but when she couldnt secure enough funding, she insteadtold her storyon an episode ofThis American Life,which featured interviews with the other members of her family minus the real Nai Nai, whowas still alive, andstillclueless about her fatal diagnosis. She would come to set, give us all massages, and hand out food and stuff. "I said something that she responded to which was: 'In China, I felt whole because I had my entire family and then I came to the U.S.,'" Wang says, "She was saying she's never felt whole in her life. In 'The Farewell,' The Bad News Bearers Keep A Secret. It was, in her words, an oasis in the middle of all of the Hollywood nonsense. It was on the air within a month. I dont know, she replied. An old woman in China is talking on the phone with her granddaughter in New York, Billi. That's just the nature of being an immigrant and straddling two cultures. I didnt feel as alone. She shares a tearful goodbye with Nai Nai as the visiting family members return to their homes in Japan and America. I dont think shed done Oceans 8. If someone tells you theres this crazy set up where you cant tell your grandma and theres a wedding, you expect there will be a moment of reconciliation and catharsis the things that you see in the movies. Paul Newman and Joanne Woodwards Daughters Appreciated the Fuck Hut Detail Too. [16], The Farewell grossed $17.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $5.4 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $23.1 million,[2] against a production budget of $3 million. Photo: courtesy of A24 Films. Written and directed by the Chinese filmmaker, The Farewell casts rapper-turned-actress Awkwafina in her first leading role as Billi, a Chinese-American student playing a form of Wang herself. Billi intercepts Nai Nai's medical test results from the hospital and has it altered to reflect a clean bill of health, helping to maintain the lie. Lulu Wang's Nai Nai was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2013. You dont really have any agency. Initially, I wanted her to play Nai Nai, the director admits. Lulu Wang's new film -- one of the best of the year -- is based on her own family's story, an "actual lie," as the opening suggests. She couldnt do that, so we decided to have her play herself. A title card reveals that six years after her diagnosis, the woman Nai Nai's character was based on is still alive and still unaware of her sickness.

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