THE BOX 10 OFFICE TOP
THE FAREWELL (PG)
★★★★★
CHINESE American Billi Wang (Awkwafina) is an aspiring writer living in New York. When she visits her father Haiyan (Tzi Ma) and mother Jian (Diana Lin) in Manhattan for dinner, Billi learns that her beloved grandmother Nai Nai (Zhao Shuzhen) in China has been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.
In keeping with tradition, the family has withheld the results from Nai Nai. She is blissfully unaware that she has three months to live, perhaps less.
The Wang clan intends to gather in Changchun under the false pretence of the hastily arranged wedding of Billi’s cousin Hao Hao (Chen Han) and his girlfriend Aiko (Aoi Mizuhara), who have been dating for three months.
“You can’t go. You can’t hide your emotions,” Jian tells her distraught daughter. Billi flatly disobeys and arrives unannounced at Nai Nai’s apartment in the midst of the preparations for the nuptials.
Billi wrestles with her conscience as the elderly matriarch’s condition worsens.
The Farewell is an intensely moving love letter to the ties that bind, distinguished by terrific performances from the ensemble cast including scene-stealer Shuzhen.
Wang’s script is elegantly crafted to flesh out a vast array of family members and her sparing use of broad comedy (an accident-prone sitting for wedding photos is a treat) keeps her film the right side of mawkish and manipulative.
The copious tears that fall are honestly earned.
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9. CHART COURTESY OF CINEWORLD