Earlier this year, Lulu Wang has released her very own personal work, The Farewell, in the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. With a title card that largely reads – “based on an actual lie,” the material immediately picked up the interest of many individuals. And as it happened, the premise truly features Lulu Wang’s real-life lie.
The film centers the story on a Chinese young adult Billi, who is currently residing in the United States. Despite the objections of her parents, she went back to China after learning the truth about her grandmother’s health condition, which has been long kept to the matriarch for some reason.
In Chinese culture, keeping an elderly’s health condition, no matter how worse, is very common. According to Lulu Wang, herself, this is a way for the Chinese family to cope up with such an unfortunate event. Also, it is a way to allow the elderly to live his or her last remaining days peacefully.
In an interview with The American Life back in 2016, Lulu Wang revealed this personal story of hers. And as it appears, The Farewell is an adaptation of this specific part of her life. She has been hiding this kind of secret up until recent times all because her grandmother has been diagnosed with terminal stage of cancer. Hence, creating the film has become a total “therapy” for her.
The Daily Beast revealed as well that The Farewell is also a movie about various cultures and upbringings that “shape the sense of morality” of each. In a way, it offers a much deeper look and perception of the value of family, integrity, and morality.
This is why the film easily obtained its audience and captured the hearts of many. Accordingly, a lot of people are eyeing the material as the next best movie of the year.
In the film, the direct counterpart to Lulu Wan’s real-life persona is Billi, who is played by Cray Rich Asian star, Awkwafina. The “Nai-nai,” which means grandmother in Chinese, is played by Zhao Shuzhen. Diana Lin and Tzi Ma, who have familiar faces already in Hollywood, played the roles of Billi’s parents.
Upon the release of The Farewell during the 2019 Sundance Film Festival last January, the distribution company, A24, immediately acquired worldwide distribution rights. And today, Lulu Wang’s film is about to arrive on various platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Studios, and Fox Starlight, on July 12.
