The Farewell opens with the promise that it’s “based on an actual lie,” and then proceeds to show us a conversation full of falsehoods, as two relatives on opposite sides of the Atlantic feed each other fibs to spare the other from worry.
But this isn’t a relationship based on dishonestly, not really. The lies being traded back and forth are, in their own way, as revealing as the truth. That kind of messy reality is exactly where The Farewell resides.
The biggest whopper told in The Farewell is that Nai Nai (Zhao Shuzhen) is well. In fact, she is dying of cancer, and everyone knows this but Nai Nai herself. So her family have assembled in China to say their goodbyes, under the pretext of a last-minute wedding. Read more…
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