Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

The Farewell Blu-ray Movie Review

Day of the Not Quite Dead Yet.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 3, 2019

One of the questionable side benefits of taking a long flight is the chance to explore the media offerings the airline offers to help pass the time, but one of the downsides to me having spent much of my adult life writing about films and television is that I recently found on a trans-Atlantic (and then trans-continental) flight of over ten hours, that I had already seen the vast majority of the available films, and among those that were left were relatively few that really sparked any interest at the time. One notable exception to that disappointment I experienced was Coco, the sweet Disney Pixar animated offering I had missed in its theatrical exhibition and subsequent home media releases, and a film which prominently features the relationship between a grandmother and grandchild, along with a rather touching depiction (however “tweaked” for entertainment purposes) of a large Mexican family, all within the context of what might be generally termed mortality. Coco perhaps rather weirdly bears at least some resemblances to the equally touching The Farewell, a (live action) film which posits the relationship between an elderly Chinese grandmother affectionally known as Nai Nai (Zhao Shuzhen) and her granddaughter Billi (Awkwafina), who has lived in the United States since she was a little girl. The film’s main conceit is that Nai Nai has been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, and has therefore been given just a few weeks to live (if even that). In a rather interesting piece of “cultural trivia”, it turns out that it’s quite common in China (at least according to this film, as well as some anecdotes shared in some of the supplements on this disc) to not tell those suffering from cancer that they are in the throes of a fatal disease and will be perishing soon. Instead, Billi’s family decides to hurry along a wedding involving Billi’s cousin Hao Hao (Chen Han), Nai Nai’s only other grandchild, as an excuse to have a family reunion in China, so that everyone can have one last visit with Nai Nai, though obviously Nai Nai will remain unaware of the real reason behind the gathering.

Unfortunately for Billi, neither her father Haiyan (Tzi Ma) nor her mother Lu Jian (Diana Lin) want Billi to come to China, as they feel (probably rightly, as evidenced by some early scenes) that Billi won't be able to keep the truth from Nai Nai, since Billi and Nai Nai have such a close (albeit "long distance") relationship. Of course, Billi decides to go to China anyway, which is where the bulk of the rest of the film plays out, as Billi reintegrates into an extended family dynamic where she seemingly doesn't quite fit in all the time. The Farewell is a vignette driven enterprise for the most part, offering little peeks at Billi's family and most especially her rather sweet relationship with Nai Nai (despite the fact that Nai Nai's favorite nickname for Billi is "you stupid child"). Still, writer and director Lulu Wang, who evidently culled this story from her own experience, manages to craft a surprisingly organic and unabashedly heartfelt film, one which creates a very realistic account of this particular family dynamic, "warts and all".

There are some odd detours along the way, though, and some may feel that a couple of them aren’t especially helpful to the overall story. While the basic through line of a rushed marriage manages to provide momentum to the story, I found it somewhat unclear as to whether Hao Hao and his fiancée Aiko (Aoi Mizuhara) really want to get married, or are simply carrying through on a sham arrangement in order to facilitate a reunion with Nai Nai and the rest of the gang. Also, there are a number of weird little sidebars, including some odd moments in the hotel where Billi stays that seem to be pointing to the disconnect between the Chinese and American ways of doing things, but which are never developed fully enough to completely resonate. A subplot involving Billi applying for a Guggenheim Fellowship probably could have used a bit more filling in as well, especially as it's used a couple of times as the linchpin for a couple of scenes. There's also a rather curious moment, almost a throwaway of sorts, where it's revealed that Nai Nai herself has engaged in a similar subterfuge about not revealing a fatal disease to her husband, which might have borne fruit had Wang allowed Nai Nai to secretly "know" what was actually going on with this family reunion. Finally, the repeated use of bird imagery seems to be struggling awfully hard to attain "symbolism" status.

What works like gangbusters in this film, though, is the absolutely authentic (at least to this “outsider”) depiction of a large Chinese family in the throes of an emotional crisis. Various people in the story handle Nai Nai’s “condition” differently, but there’s a very real feeling sense of panic and confusion as the family goes through the motions of a supposedly joyous event while harboring the pain of knowing Nai Nai’s days are numbered.

Performances are excellent throughout this piece, with Awkwafina managing to make Billi both a little snarky and vulnerable (sometimes simultaneously). The surrounding family members are all well detailed, sometimes in rather brief but revelatory ways, and Zhao Shuzhen is a force of nature as the sweet but tart Nai Nai.

The Farewell Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Farewell is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1. Shot with Arri Alexas and presumably finished at a 2K DI, The Farewell looks generally very well detailed in high definition, though as can perhaps be made out in some of the screenshots accompanying this review, there's a kind of odd, slightly gray-brownish quality to quite a bit of the imagery which may tend to defeat fine detail at times. The film doesn't offer tons of traditional visual "pop", but the palette looks nicely saturated and accurate. In better lighting conditions, fine detail is generally very good, especially with regard to some of the incidental elements like upholstery or even wallpaper (see screenshot 1). There are a few passing deficits in shadow detail, including in an early scene in Billi's apartment, and later in a brief moment where she first gets to the hotel where she's staying.

The Farewell Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Farewell features a well rendered DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that derives a lot of its surround activity from ambient environmental effects, both outside in some bustling urban environments, but even in Nai Nai's flat, which is of course full of family members, many of whom tend to talk over each other in a Howard Hawksian kind of way. There are a couple of fun musical moments that also sound fine. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track.

The Farewell Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Lulu Wang and Director of Photography Anna Franquesa-Solano


• Nothing But the Truth: Confessions of a Writer/Director (1080p; 15:31) is an interview with Lulu Wang where she discusses the real life genesis of the project as well as some of the vagaries of Chinese culture.


• Going Home: A Conversation with Awkwafina (1080p; 8:51) is an appealing interview with the performer, who discusses her own "uncertainty" about identity and how meaningful she found this film.


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 3:11)

The Farewell Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Coco was a very welcome relief on my above mentioned way too long flight, and it touched me immensely. Though some of the details are obviously quite different in The Farewell, there's a similar underlying "truth" to its depiction of family, and especially what happens when a family is confronted with a supposedly imminent death of one member. Wang is a talent to watch, and she has crafted a really beautifully heartfelt film. Technical merits are solid, and The Farewell comes Highly recommended.