Culture clash comedy-drama at Thame Cinema

IT’S not hard to see why Lulu Wang’s delightful and heartwarming culture-clash comedy-drama broke audience records on its release in the United States – where attendance figures outstripped the latest Avengers instalment.

Billi is a Chinese American very much at home in Brooklyn, a writer in her early 30s with not much in the way of cash or prospects. She has lived in the US since the age of 6 with her parents, but she has strong ties to her family in China, in particular her beloved grandmother (Nai Nai in her native Mandarin).

When the family discover that nai nai has cancer and is terminally ill, they decide that they must all travel back to say goodbye. The only catch is that according to Chinese custom, it is very bad form to tell an old person that they have cancer, in order to save them fear and distress. So, the family must come up with another reason to justify a huge gathering.

So it is decided that Billi’s cousin and his Japanese girlfriend – who have been half heartedly dating for only a couple of months – will be press ganged into a Big Family Wedding with all the trimmings that will provide the perfect cover for a farewell to Nai Nai. What could possibly go wrong? Billi has to navigate impossible cultural tensions: the tendency of her adopted country to be open about your feelings and talk it all out – a tendency that she has adopted herself – versus her family’s insistence that they must all put on a brave smiley face and hide their anguish, an insistence that Billi perceives as a cruel lie.

Ultimately, what must govern an individual’s actions? Does the imperative of individual emotions and feelings transcend the collective interests of a family and a community?

The story is based on the director’s own experience, a story she shared on New York public radio that she decided to develop into a screenplay. And this closeness to her heart comes across, with warmth and honesty and a great affinity with our heroine, Billi, helped by a standout performance from Awkwafina, who this week took home a Golden Globe for her efforts. The result is a bittersweet and poignant portrait of love and family ties, one of the best indy movies of 2019, that has had audiences laughing out loud and wiping away the odd tear in equal measure. Bring tissues.

The Farewell – Friday, January 17, 8 pm – Thame Players Theatre, Thame –  doors open 7.30pm – Licenced bar – Tickets HERE
USA 2019, 98 minutes, PG certificate –
Directed by Lulu Wang, Starring Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Jim Liu, Shuzhen Zhou, Gil Perez-Abraham – Trailer HERE