Movie review by Dennis D. McDonald

THE FAREWELL is more proof that 2019 was a VERY good year for movies. It joins my list of thoughtful as well crowd-pleasing.films including Little Women, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Parasite, Ad Astra, Ford V Ferrari, American Factory, and Joker.

The story is straightforward: a 30-something Chinese American woman learns from her home in New York that her beloved grandmother, still living in China, is dying. Family members decide not to tell her and instead stage a wedding as a cover for relatives to gather in China and see grandma before she dies. Were this a “Hollywood” film I would then write “… and hilarity ensues.”

But it’s not. Instead of going off into the realm of humor-leavened maudlin and saccharine tear jerkers we get an extended series of cultural observations as the young woman, played masterfully by Awkwafina, attempts to reinsert herself into a culture that she barely remembers.

What I found most entertaining about this film was that it simultaneously explores both the similarities and the differences between Chinese and “Western” culture without falling into the trap of overt sentimentalism. It does this by focusing on the family members and their own experiences as over the years they have grown apart.

As anyone who has “returned home” for a wedding or funeral will tell you there are certain family constants that just won’t die despite time or distance. Because of that, the seemingly “foreign” events displayed here, such as the extended ceremony in the crowded cemetery and the tearful wedding party speeches, are instantly recognizable.

Recommended especially if you’re looking for something with more depth than a generic romcom.

Review copyright (c) 2020 by Dennis D. McDonald