SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

‘The Farewell’ is a great film based on the true story of a lie

Jul 19, 2019, 12:35 PM

The Farewell was a huge hit at Sundance and has won numerous critical awards so far, and it comes out with a tremendous amount of fanfare. I think that the producers at A24 are hoping that this will replicate the spectacular success of Crazy Rich Asians. I give The Farewell three stars out of four.

One of my few hesitations about what is otherwise a wonderful film is that they did the subtitles in such a way that many of the subtitles appear against a very light background, so it’s hard to read them.

With that minor reservation, however, this is a great film that’s very moving and original. It’s an autobiographical film by a filmmaker named Lulu Wang who is obviously enormously talented. This film will probably net her a best director Academy Award nomination, and there could be some acting nominations as well.

‘John Wick 3’ is a one-dimensional killing machine

Some films say they’re based on a true story, but this film is based on an actual lie. Well, this film is based on a true story of an actual lie. The lie begins when the grandmother is in the hospital getting examined, and her younger sister is told that this old lady has only three months to live.

The decision is made not to tell her — which apparently is somewhat common in China — so she can live out her life as nicely as possible. In the movie they they arrange a wedding where the whole family is going to be reunited with family from around the world. Her two sons have gone to live in Japan, and one daughter has gone to live in New York City, and it’s the New York daughter — who came over to New York when she was six — who confronts the family with her broken Chinese and different culture, and thinks they ought to tell grandma about her condition.

‘The Hustle’ has amusing cons, but the victims are too cartoonish

The film is enormously compelling and all of the characters come across vividly. None of the actors are household names but they should be because they’re all extraordinarily gifted. You feel like you know this family; you know the aunt and you know the uncle and you know the mother and the father and certainly the grandmother, who comes across very vividly.

The wedding sequence is a classic wedding sequence with very different traditions, including a drinking game that I imagine will gain some popularity.

A side note: This film which is all about family and people trying to be nice to one another. Given the fact that most of the week I’m spent talking about American politics, this was a very welcome antidote. And maybe if some politicians go to see it they can affirm just some of the the rules of civility and decency and “Come let us reason together,” which would be great to re-establish in the United States.

Associated Press

Powerful nor’easter floods Northeast, leaves over 100,000 without power as high tides threaten coast

BOSTON (AP) — A powerful nor’easter continued to batter the Northeast on Sunday, flooding coastal communities and leaving tens of thousands of homes and businesses without power as forecasters warned that another round of high tides could inundate vulnerable shorelines. The slow-moving storm, which killed a New York City housing authority worker when a tree […]

1 minute ago

shon barnes katie wilson seattle city hall rally...

John Curley Show

‘City council would rather blame the mayor’: Saul Spady argues 7 of 9 seats are up, nobody wants fingerprints on the crisis

Quality of Life Coalition founder Saul Spady said the Seattle City Council is letting Mayor Katie Wilson absorb all the public anger while doing nothing itself.

1 hour ago

e-bike er visit child...

Jake Skorheim and Spike O'Neill Show

‘All of the e-bike answers are bad ones’: KIRO hosts question the premise of e-bikes as child ER visits surge nationwide

KIRO hosts debate e-bikes' safety as child ER visits increase, highlighting concerns over regulation and social pressures on young riders.

1 hour ago

carbon program wa cost...

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin Show

‘Get rid of the damn thing’: Gee blasts WA’s carbon program for costing too much, delivering too little

Washington's carbon program faces backlash for high costs and low impact as it moves toward merging with California and Quebec.

1 hour ago

seattle ranking cities...

MyNorthwest Staff

Seattle earns 4th-highest ranking in the world in new study of 1,000 cities

A new study ranks Seattle 4th globally, highlighting governance, economics, and quality of life among cities.

1 hour ago

This combination photo shows Rebecca Bennett, a Democrat candidate for New Jersey's 7th Congression...

Associated Press

Kean returned to Congress after an unexplained absence. Now it’s time for his first and only debate

Tom Kean Jr., the Republican congressman from New Jersey whose four-month absence from the House this year went unexplained until he disclosed that he was being treated for depression, and Democrat Rebecca Bennett are readying for the first and only campaign debate Sunday night in their closely contested race. The approval rating is deeply underwater […]

1 hour ago

‘The Farewell’ is a great film based on the true story of a lie