L'Adieu

Can we start using the acronym FCP (Festival Crowd Pleaser) as a standard designation for this film genre already? The Farewell is skillfully shot in individual scenes that cleverly supplement the important dialogue with some small unimportant subplot in which they take place (Chinese massage, searching for an earring). Taken together, though, it screams terribly of the need to be a cultural showcase about Chinese society for the Western viewer, but it's too superficial and more akin to a person who quite seriously considers a visit to a Chinese restaurant to be multicultural enrichment. After all, they're all wearing those outfits, there are pictures of waterfalls on the walls, and the speakers are blaring Guzheng. I'd rather watch the movie from the perspective of the poor Japanese bride who gets dragged by her stoner boyfriend of three months to somewhere in mainland China, with the caveat that she has to marry him immediately, where she can't understand a word anyone says, and no one there gives a shit because it's all happening for the sake of their dying grandmother who couldn't care less. Bummer. (25/08/2020)

The female lead, fantastically portrayed by raising star Awkwafina, is essentially a reflection of the director’s character and remembrances through whom we perceive the central emotional tension arising from the unfolding of a dual approach to the concepts family and human life – on the one hand, we have the concern for a loved one and the need to remain honest and say goodbye, and on other, the Eastern traditions that put further emphasis on the sense of belonging to a family and push honestly aside for the benefit of a loved one. The narrative, however, does not push a one-sided perspective or obvious interpretations, but leaves several motifs loose and relies on the strength of the interactions. Thanks to the typologically well cast actors, the viewer can get their bearings among the characters, while the dialogues remain attractive thanks to their ubiquitous emotional dilemmas, together with the subtle humour that wittily takes jabs at Chinese traditions and the dogmatised idea of America. The perspective of the female lead, of course, holds everything together, being the most universal and understandable, leading to an extremely moving farewell scene. The film is only 90 minutes long and goes by pretty quickly thanks the longer dialogue sequences often being interspersed with funny confrontations at the narrative and style levels – and it’s not only about the conflict of East and West in terms of the emotions and the behaviour of the characters (and the language, like in that excellent scene of the conversation in English with the doctor before the grandmother who can’t understand it), but also about the intertwining of Hollywood and Asian genre traditions. It’s a film with subtle editing and easy to digest for the mainstream audience, but it embraces its Eastern influences with long conversations over traditional food or compositionally extravagant scenes with a distinctive music score and staging in the form of images or photos (the opening scene and the wedding photo shoot). Intimate and viewer-friendly, but also a very nice, reflective and smartly conceived movie that borders two different perspectives and traditions, which perhaps won’t say anything to some people, but to those willing to listen and accept the message hidden between the lines, it will offer some welcome diversity and food for thought. You shouldn’t lie, but in this style a few little lies are OK. 80% (19/09/2020)