If Nai Nai was given three months to live, how could that possibly be true? It wasn't just that she could now frequent bars; she had a newfound agency. I have a fat face and Im going to ruin everything. Finally, one day I sat my great-aunt down and said, Listen, we all love you, but if this is going to be difficult for you emotionally. And she told me, No, I have to do this. The Farewell: Directed by Lulu Wang. 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 I could just tell there was something really rich there.. Lulu Wang was in Berlin in 2013, editing her first film, when she got the call: Her grandmother in China, who'd briefly taken her in when her parents fled the country in 1989, was terminally ill . Aspiring Chinese-American writer Billi maintains a close relationship with Nai Nai (paternal grandmother) who lives in Changchun, China. Its already been dubbed a bona fide indie blockbuster success, and it doesnt even go into national release until August 2nd. You dont really have any agency. I remember sitting in New York in their studio, having a glass of whiskey and doing it in one take, she says. "Whenever Im there with my family, I basically revert to a childlike state. 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. Related He just thought he was weird and got made fun of. Well send you our daily roundup of all our favorite stories from across the site, from travel to food to shopping to entertainment. Her grandmother was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer in 2013. But unfortunately, the world's best-kept secret couldn't stay secret for long. 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. Casi Moss/Courtesy of Big Beach. The film ends with the revelation that Wang's real-life grandmother, who was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer in 2013, is still alive and still unaware of her diagnosis. Like in the movie, Lulu Wang, her parents, uncle and cousin went to China for the main purpose of visiting her grandma. Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Shes like, Well just tell her that movies are fiction and none of it actually happened. "I very much felt the way that Billi in the movie feels, which is that it's wrong to lie," Wang told People magazine. No one really saw my perspective. Though much ofThe Farewellgrapples with mortality, the point of Wang's piece is not what happens to Nai Nai, even though it's nice to know there's a happy ending. 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. 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. This caught the attention of producer Chris Weitz who helped secure financing for the film. Wang's own "Nai Nai," or grandmother in Chinese, was diagnosed with cancer and her family decided to keep the diagnosis from her. And so thats why I made the film.. [12], The film had its premiere in the U.S. [22][23], The Farewell was a box office "flop" in China, grossing only $580,000 by January 2020 in what was then the world's second-largest film market. Wang already had one film under her belt her 2014 debut Posthumous which, by her own admission, hadnt quite turned out the way shed hoped. They entangled me in the lie and I entangled them in the movie, which is a continuation and complication of the lie., What happens when her grandmother wants to see The Farewell is the next big hurdle. 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. It stars Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, and Zhao Shuzhen. Dramatic Competition section at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival[4] and was theatrically released in the United States on July 12, 2019, by A24. But at the same time, when I talked to her like we might shoot in a neighboring town she was like, 'What the hell, you're going to come back in town and shoot a movie and not even do it here? "I'm saying it now, getting really emotional. I went to bars -- I never went to bars as a 6 year old, obviously. Based on the real life experiences of director Lulu Wang and starring Awkwafina, the film follows a family trying to hide a cancer diagnosis from their elderly matriarch. 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. "They wanted it to be my big, fat Chinese wedding," says Wang of her Sundance smash The Farewell, starring Awkwafina. Billi keeps her promise to maintain the lie. Producer Chris Weitz (About a Boy), who along with his brother, Paul, runs Depth of Field, the production company behind such films as Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist and A Single Man, was driving down the 10 freeway in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Mercedes Martinez, when the two happened upon Wangs story. That was they wanted out of this, she admits. And by the time we made the film, everyone was in China because they understood my perspective. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. 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. "Thats a long thing that I am still dealing with, with my family, and whether or not we will keep the secret is up in the air, because we want to show her the movie," Wang recently told IndieWire. "We couldn't tell her what the movie was about!" Awkwafina (left) with Lulu Wang in New York in June. "Based on an actual lie" is the whimsical, accurate opening text of director's Lulu Wang's second film, "The Farewell," which premiered at this year's Sundance . And also the city's changed a lot. Director Lulu Wang's films are built on secrets and lies. As much as The Farewell is about confronting loss, it's also distinctly about place. Its a very American show.), The episode of This American Lifedrew interest from film producers, and eventually Wangdid find the moneyto makeThe Farewell. That was the added bonus, to get to spend time with her." You were whole once. In real life, Lulu Wang's cousin had recently married a Japanese woman. . We want to hear it. ", 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. "I got to see the city in a different way because I think when you look back on places that youre from or the places where you spent a lot of time as a child, you are viewing it through a romantic lens and a nostalgic lens," she says. But we haven't talked about it, so I'll see what happens when I see her. I was like, OK, but you realize that means this will be 75 percent in Mandarin,' she recalls. Lulu Wang's Grandmother Has Just Learned That 'The Farewell' Is About Her. This idea of being in a room with a mic and knowing that once I recorded, within the next three days, people all over the world would hear it, she said. 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. 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. 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. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. And so you just felt very torn. "Six years after her diagnosis, Nai Nai is still with us," reads a caption at the . The Chinese also believe that mental and emotional health are directly linked to physical health. It's developed a lot more. It's something that Wang wonders. But what about the real grandmother that the story is based on? But for me, going back and having agency allowed me to see the city as an adult. Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023: 13 shows in the world's largest arts festival that are already on sale - including La Clique and Frank Skinner, The Nurse 2023 Netflix true story, where is Pernille Kurzman Lunden now, who was the Danish nurse killer, When Lulu Wangs grandmother was diagnosed with a terminal illness, her family in China decided not to tell her, inspiring the US-based director to make culture-clash drama The Farewell. 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. Jian Yongbo, Kmamura Aio, Chen Han, Tzi Ma, Awkwafina, Li Ziang, Tzi Ma, Lu Hong and Zhao Shuzhen in. So I can hang out with you?' Nai Nai does have a limp in real life, but it wasn't from being shot, which Lulu admits is fiction. 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. There are other people who look like me as a whole.' He also found the connection between Wang and her grandmother moving and was taken by the broader immigrant story she touched upon, the heartbreak of having to leave your family in pursuit of a better life. Awkwafina, was asking to audition. There was just one problem. "[31] Hong Kong playwright Jingan Young commented on the film's depiction of the differences between western and Chinese family values, claiming that "the familys decision to tell a 'good lie' is a metaphor for the collective delusion of living under the Chinese Communist party. And the title of the movie is Dont Tell Her in Chinese. Meanwhile, Wang is currently working on a new film, an adaptation of the short story Children of the New World by Alexander Weinstein that takes place in the near future and, according to Wang, centers on questions of family and why we have children. -People. "When it played a the premiere everyone was like, [gasping noise]," she says. After the praise and success of Crazy Rich Asians and Ocean's 8 last year, Awkwafina . And after opening in New York and Los Angeles last weekend, it had, according to Variety, the best per-screen average of 2019 to date. I think my reaction was, The girl who did My Vagwants to read for this?! The whole purpose of the lie was to bring joy, she adds. Through deception and manipulation of medical test results, the diagnosis is kept a secret from Nai Nai herself. Gallery The Best Twist Endings of All Time. Moderated by Silvia Bizio. December 3, 2019, 3:48pm. As for the fact that Nai Nai has outlived her initial diagnoses by more than five years, Wang toldThe New York Timesthather dad was like, See, we did the right thing! Right or wrong, its a wonderful feeling when that final title card comes up, and you see the real Nai Nai practicing her tai chi moves. I just didnt know what the tone would be until later.. 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 think shed done Oceans 8. Like Wang herself had been, Billi is a struggling artist living in New York. The grandmother is at the hospital for a test but doesn't tell the girl so not to worry her. 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. Billi disobeys her parents' orders and flies to Changchun shortly after the rest of the family arrive there. "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. Filmmaker, alumna Lulu Wang '05 will discuss "The Farewell" at virtual event March 25. Brunet, an acclaimed French filmmaker, says HBO Maxs adaptation doesnt accurately represent her 13-year relationship with accused murderer Michael Peterson. "[25] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 89 out of 100 based on 47 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Its kind of an interesting insecurity in the film business right now. The experience of working with This American Life had been so amazing and so pure. We kept asking ourselves, is it ethical to make her go through this traumatic experience again, take after take? Nobody wants to tell my story. -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. Its bringing excitement to the neighborhood, the city, my family. And I said my brother went through that. It brought joy to all of us.. She came to the set a couple of times when we were doing outdoor scenes and it ended up being fine. Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. 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. The Farewell thoughtfully explores that moment where grief and sadness collide with comedy . 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. ", Writer/Director Lulu Wang says that the character Billi (played by Crazy Rich Asians' Awkwafina) is only semi-autobiographical. Walking down a busy street, she stops and thrusts her arms outward giving a loud, energy-expelling "HA!" Yeah, its great that you have this premise and that the grandmother is dying. Brooklyn, US. 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. "This was our plan," says Lulu Wang, "a giant goodbye party disguised as a giant wedding banquet." Wang says that one plus is that the lie gave birth to the film, which was shot in her family's hometown of Changchun. A few other ideas for potential sophomore projects started to take shape here and there. Starring Awkwafina (Oceans 8, Crazy Rich Asians) as Billi, a young Chinese American woman wrestling with her familys request to keep her Nai Nai in the dark, The Farewell delivers an exquisitely nuanced, slyly funny exploration of the machinations of family life, one that transcends the absurd screwball elements the elaborate deceit, the hastily arranged marriage thrown up by the culture clash at the heart of the real story. Xiaojie Tan dreamed of traveling the world and celebrating her 50th birthday with her daughter.. This is sort of true. -NPR. "There's a spiritual connection or energetic -- spiritual maybe sounds too whoop-dee-doo. Instead of toasting, Wang, who still desperately wanted to adapt her story for the big screen, burst into tears. So I feel like in a way, I now have an adult relationship with China, with the city.". 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. After Wangs short film Touch played a few festivals, she found herself talking to the radio shows producer, Neil Drumming. Wang claims her grandmother eventually found out from discussing the movie with her little sister, who plays herself in the movie. 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? Then Lum sent back a tape. ' Wang admits, referring to her stars famous, foulmouthed YouTube rap. I felt like if people dont get it, but I made the film I set out to make, then I could be proud of it. "It makes it harder. With Shuzhen Zhao, Awkwafina, X Mayo, Hong Lu. 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. It was 2016, and Lulu Wang was done with filmmaking. Lulu Wang almost didn't get to make The Farewell, her sophomore feature that's garnered rave reviews since its Sundance debut in January. The Farewell is a bilingual film in English and Mandarin Chinese. He goes, Hey, do you remember when we had that conversation here, and you said youd never feel this creatively satisfied again? Rather than revealing the news directly to Wang's 80-year-old grandmother, doctors instead told her grandmother's sister (Wang's Great-Aunt Hong Lu) the news, who passed it along to the family. Well, she remembers telling him, there was this one thing about my grandmother. She talks to Alistair Harkness ahead of the films screening at Glasgow Youth Film Festival. Its so meta, said Wang with a laugh. Lulu Wang. "It went into this whole conversation where I was like, 'Yeah, [in China] I had my grandma and then my other grandma and uncles. I heard this extraordinary true story, this beautiful complete story. The family got a second opinion, and then a third. I knew right away I wanted to do it as a movie, says Wang, over the phone from her home in Los Angeles ahead of the films Scottish premiere at this years Glasgow Youth Film Festival. "We had to whisper scenes, it was real," Awkwafina explained during an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences screening I moderated. The problem was no one else did. 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. 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. 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. Lulu Wang, the writer-director behind 'The Farewell. 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. When Wang pitched her setupa Chinese-American woman returns to her home country with the other expatriates in her family under the guise of a wedding, but with the true intent of seeing the family matriarch before she diesshe was met with a flood of criticism from both Chinese and American financiers: Who is this movie for? 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. The Farewell opens with a title card declaring that the film is "based on an actual lie" from director Lulu Wang's own life. Copyright 2023 HistoryvsHollywood.com, CTF Media. She really became all our grandmas. Like, a million times over! It is ironic that films only get made now if they exist in another medium, added Weitz. It was a brilliant combo of audio theater and investigative journalism. It's a family drama centering on a young Chinese . It's that this familyare are linked across continents; their intangible bonds expressed perfectly in that final visual. 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. When they suggested her, the first thought I had was, Guys, I thought we were on the same page here. Then she made a movie about it so it went through the entire history of our family, and my grandma read it. Meet Awkwafina, the Breakout Star of 'Crazy Rich Asians' In the beginning of Lulu Wang's film, she establishes the affectionate relationship between Billi Wang (Awkwafina) and her grandmother, who is usually called "Nai Nai" (Zhao Shuzhen).Although she has lived with her parents for more than 25 years in the U.S. since they left their hometown Changchun, China, Billi still remains close to her grandmother, and their mutual affection is apparent. 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. There's energy. 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. "[6], Wang later created an episode titled What You Don't Know for This American Life in April, 2016 based on her family's story. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have . The lie has allowed me to spend so much time with my grandmother in China, shooting a movieall kinds of scenarios that I never dreamed possible, said Wang, who has made peace with her familys orchestrated deception. Then shed she ask, But what about the family, whats the story? 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. At the end of the film, Billi returns to New York. I just knew her music videos, because my brother was a fan. 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. [1] In its opening weekend the film made $355,662 from four theaters for an average of $88,916 per venue; at the time, it was the best average of 2019, besting Avengers: Endgame's $76,601. '", As we sit on a couch in Park City, Utah, a few days after the film's first screening, Wang's voice begins to crack as she explains how her life changed when her parents emigrated. A script began to make the rounds. And then I met a friend from college for dinner right after and I just started crying. 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. There is, however, a further bizarre twist to the story. ", "Barack Obama's Favorite Movies and TV Shows of 2019", "The 2020 Film Independent Spirit Award Nominees are Here! And her friend saw a review of it and was so proud of her, one of her longest friends, and sent it to her.. Yes. Lulu Wang RUBEN V. NEPALES LOS ANGELESWriter-director Lulu Wang has quite a dilemma. 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. When filmmaker Lulu Wang decided to make a feature about the strange turn of events that followed her beloved grandmothers cancer diagnosis, though, she faced a more unusual challenge: how to make a movie based on an actual lie. Wang was thinking about coincidences and strange out-of-body experiences when she incorporated the sparrow into the film, but a theme of connection was also on her mind: "The connection of these two countries that are across the world from each other, but that there is a connection even if its not physical," she says.
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