The sex symbol confessed that "girls thought I was a jokea happy buffoon," before he met his wife. But there's a twist at the very end that comes in the form of a reveal after the breathtaking final shot, and Wang herself thinks it's worth keeping quiet about it. -This American Life, All of the doctors predicted that Lulu Wang's Nai Nai had three months left to live after the stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis in 2013. The Farewell became 2019's little indie movie that could, earning acclaim out of the gate at Sundance last January and going on to garner awards buzz for its phenomenal cast and, last night, a Golden Globe award for breakout starAwkwafina, who made history as the first Asian actress to win Best Actress at the Golden Globes. (There are mild spoilers ahead.). Then a funny thing happened. Brunet, an acclaimed French filmmaker, says HBO Maxs adaptation doesnt accurately represent her 13-year relationship with accused murderer Michael Peterson. Who else can I talk to about this, Lulu? That lie is told by a . In related news, Awkafina has just become the first Asian American actress to win a Golden Globe inthe Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy category for her role inThe Farewell. When they were filming Awkwafinas tearful farewell to her screen grandmother, the real grandmother came up to her after an emotional take and kept inquiring, Whats wrong, why are you crying? The star had to bite her tongue. Incredibly, Nai Nai, and the family secret, survived long enough for her to discover both the deception . Because "The Farewell" has yet to come out in China Wang said the Chinese distributor is eyeing a spring release, spurred by the film's success in the U.S. her grandmother still hasn . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google, This website and its associated newspaper are members of Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). [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. July 16, 2019. Journey deeper into the true story behind The Farewell by watching an interview with writer/director Lulu Wang, whose family's story provided the basis for the movie. Weve been able to stall her by telling her were not allowed to send it over. And then I met a friend from college for dinner right after and I just started crying. Wang had been here before; she assumed most of the sit-downs would start off well before the inevitable Yes, but what if shoe dropped. Filmmaker, alumna Lulu Wang '05 will discuss "The Farewell" at virtual event March 25. 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. 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. He goes, Hey, do you remember when we had that conversation here, and you said youd never feel this creatively satisfied again? Photo: courtesy of A24 Films. While shopping around the idea for the movie, Wang says that a lot of companies wanted her to make the Billi character the bride, in addition to other changes that would make it less true to her own story. Its kind of an interesting insecurity in the film business right now. When they suggested her, the first thought I had was, Guys, I thought we were on the same page here. This caught the attention of producer Chris Weitz who helped secure financing for the film. Dramatic Competition section at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival[4] and was theatrically released in the United States on July 12, 2019, by A24. Come along for the ride! 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. ", Writer/Director Lulu Wang says that the character Billi (played by Crazy Rich Asians' Awkwafina) is only semi-autobiographical. Director Lulu Wang, whose own experience inspired the film, says that like in the movie, it was her great-aunt (her grandmother's sister) who ultimately made the decision to withhold the diagnosis. All revealed the same prognosis. Scene Stealer: The True Lies of Elisabeth Finch, Part 2. At the 77th Golden Globe Awards the film was nominated for two awards including Best Foreign Language Film, with Awkwafina winning for Best Actress Musical or Comedy. We kept asking ourselves, is it ethical to make her go through this traumatic experience again, take after take? [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. Maybe I was hoping for that to make the story more interesting, but I never got that. So she fashioned the film accordingly, resisting requests from American and Chinese backers to make a broader, more sentimental film. "I very much felt the way that Billi in the movie feels, which is that it's wrong to lie," Wang told People magazine. The Farewell: Directed by Lulu Wang. And her friend saw a review of it and was so proud of her, one of her longest friends, and sent it to her.. Wang first told the story on an April 2016 episode of This American Life, which piqued the interest of various producers, allowing her to make the movie. However, the true story behind The Farewell revealed that Lulu Wang's grandma was still alive when the movie was releasedin 2019. Director Lulu Wang's films are built on secrets and lies. 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. 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. 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 true story reveals that Awkwafina's character in the movie, Billi, is based on writer/director Lulu Wang herself. You dont really have any agency. A24. Oh, she already wants to see it, says Wang. [13][14] It was released in the United States on July 12, 2019. Yes. Yeah, its great that you have this premise and that the grandmother is dying. She couldnt do that, so we decided to have her play herself. Guilt-ridden, Billi expresses conflicted thoughts with her parents over the Chinese cultural beliefs that result in a family refusing to disclose a life-threatening disease. The podcast became a sensation with audiences and suddenly her personal story was just right for film. 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. Billi admits that she wants to stay in Changchun to spend more time with Nai Nai, but Nai Nai declines, telling her that she needs to live her own life. 'The Farewell' Makes the Asian American Immigrant Experience Feel Universal, also told IndieWire in a separate interview. Dramatic Competition section at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2019. The family got a second opinion, and then a third. 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. She knew it was about the family that was obvious. There was just one problem. You cant tell me what its about. 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. Its a very American show.), The episode of This American Lifedrew interest from film producers, and eventually Wangdid find the moneyto makeThe Farewell. And the review said, 'The film is based on Lulu Wong's real life. -People. Walking down a busy street, she stops and thrusts her arms outward giving a loud, energy-expelling "HA!" Wang's crew would even stop in her grandmother's apartment for bathroom breaks while scouting locations around the neighborhood. Every time I finish a film, its kind of depressing because you're kind of at the end but kind of at the beginning again, and youre just excited but also unsure, she said. That was the added bonus, to get to spend time with her." The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. And the title of the movie isDon't Tell Herin Chinese. Her Little Nai Nai, Grandmas younger sister, who first perpetrates the lie and coordinates the reunion, was played by Hong Lu Wangs actual great-aunt. Fearing Billi will end up exposing the lie to her grandmother, Haiyan and Jian tell her to remain in New York City. I went to bars -- I never went to bars as a 6 year old, obviously. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. That lie is told by a family to their beloved grandmotherNai Nai (Zhao Shuzhen), who has been diagnosed with lung cancer. With Shuzhen Zhao, Awkwafina, X Mayo, Hong Lu. She talks to Alistair Harkness ahead of the films screening at Glasgow Youth Film Festival. 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. The 36-year-old director who came to the U.S. as a child in 1990; she grew up in Miami but now lives in Santa Monica had . The lie wasnt her grandmas illness: in 2013, her Chinese grandmother, or Nai Nai, really was diagnosed with cancer and given three months to live. Aspiring Chinese-American writer Billi maintains a close relationship with Nai Nai (paternal grandmother) who lives in Changchun, China. They were planning a celebration in China the next year, but it was decided the celebration would instead be in two weeks to ensure that Nai Nai was still alive. I dont know, she replied. Theres a version of this movie in some alternate universe where the laughs are broad, your heartstrings are constantly under attack, everyone learns a life lesson, and youre left with the recognizable taste of saccharine in your mouth. The then 33-year-old director already had one movie under her belt, 2014s Posthumous, and another she was burning to make. The night it aired, Wangs friend took her to a sushi bar to celebrate. ", Wang hadn't been to Changchun since she was 6 years old, and when she returned to film The Farewell, she found her relationship with her surroundings evolve beyond her childhood nostalgia. Based on Wang's own experiences,The Farewelltells the story of a Chinese family who decides not to tell their grandmother that she has Stage 4 lung cancer, and the Chinese-American granddaughter (Golden Globe winner Awkwafina) who struggles with this decision. In a Slate interview, director Lulu Wang revealed thatThe Farewell led to her own grandmother discovering she had cancer. Jian Yongbo, Kmamura Aio, Chen Han, Tzi Ma, Awkwafina, Li Ziang, Tzi Ma, Lu Hong and Zhao Shuzhen appear in a still from The Farewellby Lulu Wang. "It's so meta," said Wang with a laugh. He asked, You just did this amazing thing, so why are you upset? And I just said, I dont know if Im ever going to feel like this making films now. There was such a purity to it and I felt such power as a storyteller that I thought, maybe I should quit the film business and just work for these guys. Then the story aired, and everything changed. If Nai Nai was given three months to live, how could that possibly be true? "[The studios] wanted it all in English, or as a very broad comedy," she told the Seattle Times. The Farewell is a bilingual film in English and Mandarin Chinese. Last year, Wang headed to Changchun, China, and her grandmothers neighborhood to tell her story. I just knew her music videos, because my brother was a fan. first Asian American actress to win a Golden Globe, 89-year-old Chinese American great-grandmother dies one year after being attacked, CNBC uses up VC Geoff Yang's photo for presidential candidate Andrew Yang, Awkwafina says she was blown away by Shang-Chis Asian representation, Peik Lin needs a man! Awkwafina on her character in Crazy Rich Asians sequel, WATCH: The First Trailer For Crazy Rich Asians Has Arrived, Ronny Chieng slams People Magazine for misidentifying Crazy Rich Asians stars, Awkwafina thanks Lucy Liu in SNL monologue for helping Asian Americans, Awards are a beauty pageant: Tzi Ma talks The Farewell Oscar snub and Mulan, BTS, Awkwafina, John M Chu and Sandra Oh honored on Gold Houses A100 Most Influential Asians, Nicole Kidman chased The Farewell director Lulu Wang to work on The Expatriates. 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. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. 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. Wang revealed at the Golden Globes Foreign Language Symposium, held at Hollywood's Egyptian Theatre on Sunday that her grandmother "just found out" that the film is based on her (via Slate): "It's very traumatic that it's coming out in China. They wanted it to be my big, fat Chinese wedding, said Wang of the investors on both sides of the world. Her grandmother was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer in 2013. Films take so long to make. I was actually making a screwball romantic comedy when this happened to me, says Wang, referring to her debut feature, Posthumous (2014). ', Lulu Wang, left, on the set of The Farewell., Awkwafina, left, and Wang on the set of The Farewell., The Farewell: Lulu Wangs Truth, Lies, and the Long Goodbye, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 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. But look, it says in the newspaper it's calledDon't Tell Her, and that's why you didn't tell me, because I am the 'her' of the 'don't tell her.'" I didnt feel as alone. Lulu Wang, the writer-director behind 'The Farewell. Can you spoil The Farewell? 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. A few other ideas for potential sophomore projects started to take shape here and there. "When it played a the premiere everyone was like, [gasping noise]," she says. ButThe Farewell makes its debut in Chinese theaters onJanuary 25, 2019, which made it more likely that Wang's grandmother would find out and, of course, it was a Chinese-language review sent to her by a friend that would reveal it. Wang's Nai Nai is still alive today but hasn't seen the film because she still doesn't know. Wang's great-aunt, Lu Hong, connects by phone in the wee hours of the morning from Changchun, where she lives in the same building three floors above her sister, Wang's grandmother. And so you just felt very torn. I knew I had to make this film for me and anyone else who may be understood me, she said. You just made it up for the movie.. . Throughout the trip, however, she clashes with the rest of the family over their deliberate dishonesty towards her grandmother. "Most families in China would choose not to tell her," explains a doctor in the film. To Wang, her story was nothing like that. 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.. And I said my brother went through that. You can't tell me the title. [17] It expanded to 35 theaters in its second weekend and earned $1.14 million,[18] then made $1.5 million from 135 theaters in its third. ", "Gotham Awards: 'Marriage Story,' 'The Farewell,' 'Uncut Gems' Lead Nominations", "Lulu Wang's 'The Farewell' wins Sundance London 2019 audience award", "#RomaFF14 | "Santa subito" di Alessandro Piva vince il "Premio del Pubblico BNL", "NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW ANNOUNCES 2019 AWARD WINNERS", "Artios Awards: 'Hustlers,' 'Knives Out,' 'Rocketman' Among Casting Society Film Nominees", "The 3rd Annual Hollywood Critics Association Awards Nominations", "The 2019 Detroit Film Critics Society Awards Nominations", "2019 San Diego Film Critics Society's Award Nominations", "2019 Atlanta Film Festival Award Winners", "This year's Seminci Golden Spike is bound for Mongolia", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Farewell_(2019_film)&oldid=1149341986, Lu Hong (playing herself) as Little Nai Nai, Billi's grandmother's younger sister, This page was last edited on 11 April 2023, at 16:34. And thats not the story I want to tell or the movie I want to make. "We had to whisper scenes, it was real," Awkwafina explained during an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences screening I moderated. And her friend saw a review of it and was so proud of her, one of her longest friends, and sent it to her. Nai Nai does have a limp in real life, but it wasn't from being shot, which Lulu admits is fiction. You were whole once. It's developed a lot more. Casi Moss/Courtesy of Big Beach. 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. But unfortunately, the world's best-kept secret couldn't stay secret for long. Wang's grandmother even visited the set, which was shot at her hometown in China. I just didnt know what the tone would be until later.. After receiving a rejection letter for a Guggenheim Fellowship, Billi discovers from her parents, Haiyan and Jian, that Nai Nai has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and is predicted to have only a few months left to live. 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. Born in Taiwan, Joan moved to the UK at an early age. (Wang toldThe New York Timesno one was too concerned about Nai Nai finding out the truth fromThis American Life, explaining They thought it was this niche thing. "[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. Lulu Wang's Grandmother Has Just Learned That 'The Farewell' Is About Her. All rights reserved. Let's get back to my interview with Lulu Wang. A writer and classical pianist by trade, Wang, who was born in Beijing and immigrated to Miami when she was six, first told her absurdist family drama as a short story and then as a podcast, in collaboration with This American Life and producer Neil Drumming. "[25] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 89 out of 100 based on 47 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". 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. 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. with her cast and crew toshoot the movie there. Moderated by Silvia Bizio. [24], On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 97%, with an average rating of 8.5/10, based on 345 reviews. 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. However, the true story behind The Farewell revealed that Lulu Wang's grandma was still alive when the movie was released in 2019. The decision not to tell Nai Nai about what's ailing her is part of a Chinese cultural tradition Billi feels divorced from as someone who has grown up largely in the West. ", 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. It is ironic that films only get made now if they exist in another medium, added Weitz. And that feels very limiting, at least for me. To further complicate an already complicated situation: Wang eventually decided to shoot her film about Nai Nai's illness in Changchun, the city where Nai Nai currently lives. The whole purpose of the lie was to bring joy, she adds. When Wang's grandmother was diagnosed with cancer, her family traveled to China to say goodbye, but decided to keep the diagnosis from the woman she affectionately called Nai Nai. When we met on a late spring day in Los Angeles, Wang pulled up to the cafe on a mini Segway, embodying millennial chic in an oversized navy suit and bright yellow Vans. There's energy. Meet Awkwafina, the Breakout Star of 'Crazy Rich Asians' Lulu Wang. A Chinese family discovers their grandmother has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to gather before she dies. 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. She really became all our grandmas. Nai Nai is, instead, falsely told that her recent doctor visits have only revealed benign findings. But look, it says in the newspaper its called Dont Tell Her, and thats why you didnt tell me, because I am the her of the dont tell her., But we havent talked about it, so Ill see what happens when I see her.. Shereturned to her hometown in China and even Nai Nais house! 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. Then she made a movie about it' so it went through the entire history of our family, and my grandma read it. She was 80 years old, and my family, for reasons I'll get into in a minute, decided not to tell her. By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content. Opening Of All-Time With $40M+ As 'Lion King' Still Lords With $76M+ Sunday Update", "How Universal Is Reviving The R-Rated Comedy & Making 'Good Boys' Great At The B.O. She . Wang and cinematographer Anna Franquesa Solano.
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