The Farewell

Movie
German title	The Farewell
Original title	The Farewell
Country of production	United States
original language	English , Mandarin
Publishing year	2019
length	101 minutes
Age rating	FSK 0
Rod
Director	Lulu Wang
script	Lulu Wang
production	Daniele Tate Melia , ; Andrew Miano , ; Peter Saraf , ; Marc Turtletaub , ; Chris Weitz , ; Jane Zheng ,
music	Alex Weston
camera	Anna Franquesa Solano
cut	Matt Friedman , ; Michael Taylor
occupation
	Awkwafina : Billi Wang; Tzi Ma : Haiyan Wang; Diana Lin : Jian Wang; Jim Liu : Doctor Song; Shuzhen Zhao : Nai Nai; Gil Perez-Abraham : Tony; Ines Laimins : Kathy; Han Chen : Hao Hao; Aoi Mizuhara : Aiko; Becca Khalil : Shirley;

The Farewell is a tragic comedy by Lulu Wang that premiered on January 25, 2019 at the Sundance Film Festival and was released in US theaters on July 12, 2019.

action

The freelance writer Billi Wang lives in New York like her parents Haiyan and Jian. The family emigrated from China many years ago. Billie learns from her parents that her beloved grandmother, her Nai Nai, was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, but the family is hiding it. A planned wedding for Billi's cousin Hao Hao from Japan serves as an excuse for the family to get together one last time in China to spend time with Nai Nai. Fearing that Billi might reveal the secret of her health, they ask her parents to stay in New York. Billi ignores this and flies to Changchun, China, without further ado.

production

Awkwafina plays Billi in the film

Directed by Lulu Wang , who also wrote the script. She draws on her own biography for the film, and Billi is her alter ego. This is embodied by the American rapper and actress Awkwafina .

The German synchronization was created from the dialogue director of Jürgen Wilhelm on behalf of Christa Kistner synchronous Produktion GmbH, Berlin.

The shooting took place in Changchun , the capital of Jilin Province in the northeast of the People's Republic of China.

The film was shown for the first time on January 25, 2019 as part of the Sundance Film Festival . There A24 secured the rights to the film. It was released in US theaters on July 12, 2019. In autumn 2019 it will be released in cinemas in various European countries. A theatrical release in Germany took place on December 19, 2019, in Switzerland it is planned on December 26, 2019.

reception

Age rating

In the United States, the MPAA rated the film as a PG. In Germany, the film was approved by the FSK without any age restriction.

Reviews and grossing results

So far, the film has received a very positive rating of 8.6 out of a possible 10 points from 99 percent of all Rotten Tomatoes critics . The consensus there states that the film skilfully captures the complicated family dynamics in this poignant, well-acted film drama that combines a cultural specificity with topics that everyone is related to. The film also came second in the 21st Annual Golden Tomato Awards in the Best Comedies category .

Directed by Lulu Wang

Tereza Fischer from the Filmbulletin writes that the characters move into or out of the frame as if the camera were not interested in what they were doing, which looked as if they were playing on a stage. This would also emphasize her performance and repeat the lie to her grandmother in every shot. Many of the pictorial compositions were also reminiscent of traditional Chinese painting , in which the viewer can fill the gaps with his own ideas and in which the individual person is not the focus.

Gaby Sikorski from the Gilde deutscher Filmkunsttheater writes that the plot already shows the comedy potential when worldviews, cultures and generations collide, and Lulu Wang turns it into a realistic and life-affirming action with a lot of humor and appropriate situational comedy. In doing so, she remains serious in tone, takes her characters seriously and manages without any gags or flat jokes. In principle, it is actually about saying goodbye, not just to one person, but also to childhood, continues Sikorski: “Billi recognizes the patterns in her family, she resists the traditions, but she also loves them because they are one Part of her that belongs to her like her face. ” Awkwafina does this phenomenally well and plays Billi with a mixture of casualness and cramp, so that she looks even younger, almost adolescent.

The film's worldwide revenue from theatrical screenings is $ 19.5 million to date.

Use in school lessons

The online portal kinofenster.de recommends The Farewell for the subjects of ethics, religion, social studies, social studies, philosophy, English and Chinese and offers materials for the film for the classroom. There Elisa Jochum writes that the film spins a close-knit web between sincerity and responsibility, between self-interest and common good, between the individual, family and culture. School classes could develop perspectives in ethics, philosophy and social studies in order to disentangle this network.

Awards (selection)

At the upcoming Academy Awards 2020 , the film will be on a shortlist in the Best Film Music category . The American Film Institute included the film in the Top 10 Best Movies of 2019. Below is a selection of other awards and nominations.

AACTA International Awards 2020