"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. I heard this extraordinary true story, this beautiful complete story. Did she have anything else on deck? You just made it up for the movie.. Let's get back to my interview with Lulu Wang. Billi assures her parents that she will not reveal the cancer diagnosis to Nai Nai. 'The Farewell' Breakout Zhao Shuzhen Anchors Lulu Wang's Memoir Film 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. 'The Farewell's' Lulu Wang and Awkwafina want you to cry, then call Then she made a movie about it' so it went through the entire history of our family, and my grandma read it. "They wanted it to be my big, fat Chinese wedding," says Wang of her Sundance smash The Farewell, starring Awkwafina. "[8], The film was primarily shot in Changchun, China, over the course of 24 days in June 2018. As much as The Farewell is about confronting loss, it's also distinctly about place. Based on Wangs own life, the film centres on a Chinese American womans family refusal to tell the grandmother that she has cancer. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google, This website and its associated newspaper are members of Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). [11] In an interview with Filmmaker, cinematographer Anna Franquesa Solano stated that the references for the film included Force Majeure and Still Walking. Lessons From The Farewell Director Lulu Wang at the Miami Film Festival Based on Wang's own life, the film centres on a Chinese American woman's family refusal to tell the grandmother that she has cancer. However, the true story behind The Farewell revealed that Lulu Wang's grandma was still alive when the movie was released in 2019. No, at least not according to Wang, who says that she told her grandmother that the film was about their family, emigrating to America, and returning for a reunion in the form of a wedding. Later, she sees a similar bird resting on the windowsill of her Chinese hotel room. You cant tell me the title. is nai nai from the farewell still alive. Lulu Wang's deeply personal, disarmingly universal story of culture clash and family grief became an indie phenomenon when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last year.Based on Wang's own . 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. And [my friend] was like, 'That's it.' Her Nai Nai was played by 75-year-old veteran Chinese star Shuzhen Zhao. "[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. I have to admit I read that and I was like, Go mom, laughs Clea Newman Soderlund, speaking about her fathers posthumous memoir, Dakota Johnson on Family, Sexual AgencyAnd the Psychotic Making of, The 42 Best Romantic Comedies of All Time, We take stock of the best rom-coms everfrom, Scene Stealer: The True Lies of Elisabeth Finch, Part 1, Paul Newman Says Wife Joanne Woodward Turned Him Into a Sexual Creature in Posthumous Memoir. Yes. '", 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. 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. The lightly fictionalized film finds Awkwafina's character Billi in the same situation, grappling with her own impending loss and frustration with the cultural practice of secrecy. I just didnt know what the tone would be until later.. I dont think shed done Oceans 8. She wrote and directed the new film "The Farewell," which is based on her experience after her Chinese grandmother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung . 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. 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. Hong became the de facto authority for her fellow performers on whether the interactions of the screen family felt like the real thing; she and Shuzhen began hanging out together off-set a lot and, according to Lulu, started calling each other sister. The director had made good on the promise to shoot The Farewell in her still-living grandmothers hometown of Chungchun, ensuring that a high level of authenticity would be built in to the story. In New York, shes a strong independent person with a lot of agency, but then you go home and you have no agency and you're not even allowed to talk because you might spill the beans. When I come across people who have [original] stories they want to tell, they feel like they have to tell those stories in some other medium first in order to get any traction.. There is, however, a further bizarre twist to the story. How Lulu Wang's Grandmother Finally Finds Out the Secret - YouTube A very broad, ethnic comedy.. In real life, Lulu Wang's cousin had recently married a Japanese woman. In a way I guess we were all entangled. Lulu Wang on lying to her grandmother for her new film The Farewell Yes. And so you just felt very torn. Right after I found out I had gotten in to Sundance, she notes, I was with my same friend at the same restaurant. 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. "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. Why is it in Mandarin? When Lulu Wang initially recounted the tale of her family's unusual struggle with a cancer diagnosis, . Is that the question? 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. Well, she remembers telling him, there was this one thing about my grandmother. 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. 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. She's always felt like an outsider. Then Wangs relatives fast-tracked a cousins planned wedding as an excuse for everyone to visit the elderly matriarch one last time. Speaking about the inspiration of The Farewell, Wang said her own struggle in balancing American and Chinese culture led her to make the film. An old woman in China is talking on the phone with her granddaughter in New York, Billi. So I can hang out with you?' 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. Nai Nai is, instead, falsely told that her recent doctor visits have only revealed benign findings. The podcast became a sensation with audiences and suddenly her personal story was just right for film. [11] However, she added that her main source of inspiration came from "spending time with Lulu's family at their home in Changchun, during pre-production. It was awkward to keep the secret when the grandmother visited the filming, a block from her home. "[The studios] wanted it all in English, or as a very broad comedy," she told the Seattle Times. That was the most beautiful part of this. Her Nai Nai is still very much alive, six years on, and the family still havent told her about her illness a testament, perhaps, to the benefits of the lie, but also a development that has necessitated additional layers of screwball-like subterfuge. Lulus very-much-alive grandmother still didnt know about her cancer diagnosis. The filmcloses with an even more shocking title card: Six years after her diagnosis,Wangs real Nai Nai is still alive. [34], Santa Barbara International Film Festival, "12 Cultural Easter Eggs in The Farewell, Explained", "Sundance Unveils Politics-Heavy Lineup Featuring Ocasio-Cortez Doc, Feinstein Drama", "Lulu Wang, the Director of 'The Farewell,' Explains That Surprise Ending", "10 Directors to Watch: Lulu Wang Shows Another Side of Awkwafina in 'The Farewell', "Awkwafina Leads 'The Farewell'; Marc Maron Brandishes 'Sword of Trust': Specialty Box Office Preview", "Lulu Wang's Grandmother Learned That She Has Cancer From The Farewell, Lulu Wang's Film About Not Telling Her Grandmother That She Has Cancer", "A24 Near WW Deal For Sundance Buzz Title 'The Farewell', "Sundance: Awkwafina Drama 'The Farewell' Lands at A24", "A24 Seeks Summer Box Office with Release Dates for 'The Farewell' and 'Last Black Man', "A Full Mandarin-Subtitled Version of 'The Farewell' is Coming to Theaters This Weekend", "Counterprogramming 'Crawl' & 'Stuber' Collateral Damage In Superhero Summer As 'Spider-Man' Climbs To $45M+ Update", "Hooray For 'Hollywood': Quentin Tarantino Sees His Biggest B.O. We kept asking ourselves, is it ethical to make her go through this traumatic experience again, take after take? Thats kind of also what Billis character is [going through]. But theres a line in the movie that people dont die of the cancer, they die of the fear. By making that movie, Im bringing people, were cooking, were eating together. 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. It was a brilliant combo of audio theater and investigative journalism. The Chinese also believe that mental and emotional health are directly linked to physical health. "I very much felt the way that Billi in the movie feels, which is that it's wrong to lie," Wang told People magazine. 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. Her family threw a fake wedding for her cousin from Japan and her grandmother didn't know. 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. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. And also the city's changed a lot. I don't envy Wang in finally having that conversation to her grandmother about the diagnosis, but at least she could finally see the movie that is getting her granddaughter so much acclaim. 3 Is Yet Another Big Marvel Movie Misstep, Rachel Weisz Doubles Down in Dead Ringers, To Love Tupac Was to Fight With Tupac: Why Allen Hughes Needed to Make Dear Mama, Academy Slaps Down New Rules After Andrea Riseborough, Tom Cruise, Michelle Yeoh Controversies, Here's Where to Watch 'Scream 6' (and All the 'Scream' Movies) Online, Ryan Murphy Sets Sights on Menndez Brothers for 'Monster' Season 2, White House Plumbers Gives Watergate the Veep Treatment and Misses Big, Roy Wood Jr. 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. 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. "On one level, I didn't want to shoot in my grandma's hometown because, um, we're trying to lie to her," Wang told the audience after the movie's Sundance premiere. Within two weeks, with the help of another production company, Big Beach, The Farewell was financed and Wang was busy banging out a script. Her 2014 directorial debut, Posthumous, explores what happens when a struggling artist (Jack Huston), who learns that his work is more valuable after his "death," concocts a shady scheme to reap the rewards of his "posthumous" success. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The Farewell vs. the True Story of Lulu Wang's Still-Alive Grandma As stated in the movie, Chinese law allows keeping a prognosis from a family member, something that is both unheard of and illegal in the United States. Brunet, an acclaimed French filmmaker, says HBO Maxs adaptation doesnt accurately represent her 13-year relationship with accused murderer Michael Peterson. Now The Farewellis opening in theaters around the country and Nai Nai is still, happily, aliveand well, now in her mid-80s.
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