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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated The Farewell (2019) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
Simply brilliant. Go see it!
The Long Goodbye.
With “Downton Abbey” and now “The Farewell”, the excesses of the summer blockbusters are fading away. (Though I’m sure Rambo might have something to say about that!)
The Plot.
Billi (Awkwafina) is a young Chinese New Yorker struggling to make her way in the world. She has a place of her own to distance herself from her parents – Haiyan (“Arrival“‘s Tzi Ma) and Lu Jian (Diana Lin) – but is struggling to fund it. But despite a typically spiky teenage relationship with her parents, family is important to her.
There’s a big shock then when her beloved “Nai Nai” (Shuzhen Zhao) is diagnosed back in China with terminal cancer. The slight complication is that no-one has told her. Her younger sister (Hong Lu) has taken the decision to keep the news from her. This is in line with the Chinese saying “When people get Cancer they die”. (Based on the rationale that it is not necessarily the disease that kills you, but the fear that destroys your useful life).
The whole extended family sign up – reluctantly – to the decision. They stage a final get together back in China around the pretence of a trumped-up wedding. This is between the comically reluctant grandson Hao Hao (Han Chen) and his new Japanese girlfriend Aiko (Aoi Mizuhara).
Faced with seeing Nai Nai face-to-face, and being forced to “celebrate” together, can the family – and the emotionally attached Billi in particular – hold it together and keep the secret?
A laff a minute then?
You might naturally assume that given the subject matter that this was going to be SERIOUSLY heavy going. And in many ways you would be right. Most of us over 50 will have lost an elderly relative. And, unless it was a sudden event, you have probably been through the mental pain of having to drive away from a nursing home certain that that will be the final time you will see your loved one alive. If you are therefore not affected by this film, you are not human.
So I was frankly bracing myself.
However, the film is so beautifully put together, and the comedy – albeit some of it very dark – so brilliantly inserted that the film is an UTTER DELIGHT from start to end. There are truly insightful scenes that get under the skin of the well-developed social approach in China to family. (Like the illustrious Mrs Movie-Man, they love big family dinners around a round-table!) Although there is always the teen – Bau (Jinhang Liu) in this case – with his face permanently in his phone!
There are also scenes familiar to anyone who’s visited China. The gaggle of “helpful” taxi drivers outside the airport made me laugh out loud.
Also (unintentionally) funny are the multiple company logos at the start of the film. This is reminiscent of the classic “Family Guy” scene (I think “The Simpsons” also did a similar spoof).
Cinematic.
For such a ‘small’ film, the scale is sometimes truly cinematic. Director and writer, Lulu Wang, achieves some gloriously memorable movie moments. A stony-faced, determined march of the key players towards the camera – which could be subtitled “The Magnificent Eight” – is slo-mo’d for about 30 seconds and is utterly mesmeric.
And a scene at a cemetery is a comic masterpiece of Chinese tradition. Bau of course still has his face in his phone throughout!
This is only Lulu Wang‘s second feature, but it makes me now want to check out her first film (“Posthumous”).
Not afraid to offend either country.
What I found particularly interesting is that the film is truly multi-cultural. It’s not an American film with some local content crudely inserted to cater for the Far East markets. The film is an almost equal blend of American language and Mandarin language with subtitles.
Lulu Wang is also not afraid to upset officials in either country. Which is better: US or China? The question keeps getting posed to Billi and discussed among the family. And – as you might expect – there are positives and negatives on each side. The film doesn’t really take sides. It’s a really balanced position to take.
A quirky soundtrack.
The music is by Alex Weston, and its one of the stars of the film. It’s truly quirky with everything as diverse as a vocalised version of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 8 “Pathetique”; a karaoke version of “Killing Me Softly”; and a hugely entertaining Chinese version of Niilson’s “Without You” over the end titles.
A brilliant ensemble cast.
It’s a great ensemble cast (SAG awards, are you listening?), and everyone pulls their weight. Even the minor members of the cast are superb: Aoi Mizuhara in particular displays acute awkwardness brilliantly!
But leading the charge is Awkwafina. She was in the disappointing “Ocean’s 8” but much more memorable in “Crazy Rich Asians” as Rachel’s wacky Singapore friend. Here it’s a bravado performance that is genuinely moving. She IS the slightly sulky but emotionally crushed teen.
Sub-titles? I don’t do sub-titles.
Get a grip! Yes, this is a film that has sub-titles. But it uses them when required (unless you happen to be fluent in Mandarin that is!). There is also a large percentage of the film that is in English. It’s all eminently watchable, even for “sub-title-phobes”.
This is a feelgood film about a tough subject. The ending of the film pulls off the trick of being both devastating and uplifting at the same time.
So get yourself to the cinema and see this film! Without question, it gets my “highly recommended” tag. It’s also firmly placed itself very high up in my “Films of the Year” list.
And it’s all “based on a true lie”!
With “Downton Abbey” and now “The Farewell”, the excesses of the summer blockbusters are fading away. (Though I’m sure Rambo might have something to say about that!)
The Plot.
Billi (Awkwafina) is a young Chinese New Yorker struggling to make her way in the world. She has a place of her own to distance herself from her parents – Haiyan (“Arrival“‘s Tzi Ma) and Lu Jian (Diana Lin) – but is struggling to fund it. But despite a typically spiky teenage relationship with her parents, family is important to her.
There’s a big shock then when her beloved “Nai Nai” (Shuzhen Zhao) is diagnosed back in China with terminal cancer. The slight complication is that no-one has told her. Her younger sister (Hong Lu) has taken the decision to keep the news from her. This is in line with the Chinese saying “When people get Cancer they die”. (Based on the rationale that it is not necessarily the disease that kills you, but the fear that destroys your useful life).
The whole extended family sign up – reluctantly – to the decision. They stage a final get together back in China around the pretence of a trumped-up wedding. This is between the comically reluctant grandson Hao Hao (Han Chen) and his new Japanese girlfriend Aiko (Aoi Mizuhara).
Faced with seeing Nai Nai face-to-face, and being forced to “celebrate” together, can the family – and the emotionally attached Billi in particular – hold it together and keep the secret?
A laff a minute then?
You might naturally assume that given the subject matter that this was going to be SERIOUSLY heavy going. And in many ways you would be right. Most of us over 50 will have lost an elderly relative. And, unless it was a sudden event, you have probably been through the mental pain of having to drive away from a nursing home certain that that will be the final time you will see your loved one alive. If you are therefore not affected by this film, you are not human.
So I was frankly bracing myself.
However, the film is so beautifully put together, and the comedy – albeit some of it very dark – so brilliantly inserted that the film is an UTTER DELIGHT from start to end. There are truly insightful scenes that get under the skin of the well-developed social approach in China to family. (Like the illustrious Mrs Movie-Man, they love big family dinners around a round-table!) Although there is always the teen – Bau (Jinhang Liu) in this case – with his face permanently in his phone!
There are also scenes familiar to anyone who’s visited China. The gaggle of “helpful” taxi drivers outside the airport made me laugh out loud.
Also (unintentionally) funny are the multiple company logos at the start of the film. This is reminiscent of the classic “Family Guy” scene (I think “The Simpsons” also did a similar spoof).
Cinematic.
For such a ‘small’ film, the scale is sometimes truly cinematic. Director and writer, Lulu Wang, achieves some gloriously memorable movie moments. A stony-faced, determined march of the key players towards the camera – which could be subtitled “The Magnificent Eight” – is slo-mo’d for about 30 seconds and is utterly mesmeric.
And a scene at a cemetery is a comic masterpiece of Chinese tradition. Bau of course still has his face in his phone throughout!
This is only Lulu Wang‘s second feature, but it makes me now want to check out her first film (“Posthumous”).
Not afraid to offend either country.
What I found particularly interesting is that the film is truly multi-cultural. It’s not an American film with some local content crudely inserted to cater for the Far East markets. The film is an almost equal blend of American language and Mandarin language with subtitles.
Lulu Wang is also not afraid to upset officials in either country. Which is better: US or China? The question keeps getting posed to Billi and discussed among the family. And – as you might expect – there are positives and negatives on each side. The film doesn’t really take sides. It’s a really balanced position to take.
A quirky soundtrack.
The music is by Alex Weston, and its one of the stars of the film. It’s truly quirky with everything as diverse as a vocalised version of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 8 “Pathetique”; a karaoke version of “Killing Me Softly”; and a hugely entertaining Chinese version of Niilson’s “Without You” over the end titles.
A brilliant ensemble cast.
It’s a great ensemble cast (SAG awards, are you listening?), and everyone pulls their weight. Even the minor members of the cast are superb: Aoi Mizuhara in particular displays acute awkwardness brilliantly!
But leading the charge is Awkwafina. She was in the disappointing “Ocean’s 8” but much more memorable in “Crazy Rich Asians” as Rachel’s wacky Singapore friend. Here it’s a bravado performance that is genuinely moving. She IS the slightly sulky but emotionally crushed teen.
Sub-titles? I don’t do sub-titles.
Get a grip! Yes, this is a film that has sub-titles. But it uses them when required (unless you happen to be fluent in Mandarin that is!). There is also a large percentage of the film that is in English. It’s all eminently watchable, even for “sub-title-phobes”.
This is a feelgood film about a tough subject. The ending of the film pulls off the trick of being both devastating and uplifting at the same time.
So get yourself to the cinema and see this film! Without question, it gets my “highly recommended” tag. It’s also firmly placed itself very high up in my “Films of the Year” list.
And it’s all “based on a true lie”!
Rachel Howser Roberts (96 KP) rated Crazy Rich Asians in Books
Jun 21, 2018 (Updated Jun 21, 2018)
Modern Cinderella
Imagine if Cinderella lived today, she was a college professor, and she was already dating the Prince Charming of Singapore. That’s what Kwan’s debut novel reminded me of. Rachel Chu agrees to visit her boyfriend’s family in Singapore over the summer, only to slowly realize that they are crazy rich and live a lifestyle very different from how Rachel and Nick live in New York. I found the novel to be a fresh take on the Cinderella-type story. I also enjoyed learning how the crazy rich Asians of the title live.
I found the main character, Rachel, to be quite relatable. Despite the fact, that her mother immigrated from mainland China, Rachel is thoroughly American. She was thrown into this world of the crazy rich with no warning from her boyfriend. I liked that she behaved with dignity, even if she was often unaware of what was happening around her or how to act in a particular social situation.
The character of Nick, Rachel’s boyfriend, is not quite as fleshed out as Rachel’s. The reader sees him being generally a good guy (not participating in drugs and prostitutes brought in for a bachelor party), but I would have liked to see him realize and react to the way his family and family friends behave towards the woman he loves. It does not occur to him that they are treating her abhorrently until near the end of the novel.
The pacing of the novel was quick. Each chapter is from a different point of view, quickly switching from one experience to another. Although the book focused on relationships, and I’m more of a Sci-Fi or suspense girl, I found myself unable to put the book down. I read it in a day.
I honestly picked up this book, because many of my friends are excited about the upcoming movie. After reading the book, I’m excited to see it, too. But as with any movie, I would recommend reading the book first.
Most of all, the book made me want to visit Asia again! I’ve been to Mainland China and Taiwan, but never Singapore. The crazy rich people did not sound pleasant to be around, but I would love to experience the culture. I would love to visit the food stalls Rachel visits as soon as she lands in Singapore.
I found the main character, Rachel, to be quite relatable. Despite the fact, that her mother immigrated from mainland China, Rachel is thoroughly American. She was thrown into this world of the crazy rich with no warning from her boyfriend. I liked that she behaved with dignity, even if she was often unaware of what was happening around her or how to act in a particular social situation.
The character of Nick, Rachel’s boyfriend, is not quite as fleshed out as Rachel’s. The reader sees him being generally a good guy (not participating in drugs and prostitutes brought in for a bachelor party), but I would have liked to see him realize and react to the way his family and family friends behave towards the woman he loves. It does not occur to him that they are treating her abhorrently until near the end of the novel.
The pacing of the novel was quick. Each chapter is from a different point of view, quickly switching from one experience to another. Although the book focused on relationships, and I’m more of a Sci-Fi or suspense girl, I found myself unable to put the book down. I read it in a day.
I honestly picked up this book, because many of my friends are excited about the upcoming movie. After reading the book, I’m excited to see it, too. But as with any movie, I would recommend reading the book first.
Most of all, the book made me want to visit Asia again! I’ve been to Mainland China and Taiwan, but never Singapore. The crazy rich people did not sound pleasant to be around, but I would love to experience the culture. I would love to visit the food stalls Rachel visits as soon as she lands in Singapore.
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Neon's Nerd Nexus (360 KP) rated Mulan (2020) in Movies
Sep 10, 2020
No honour
GUEST REVIEW BY THE BEAUTIFUL @fandomfanatichere - PLEASE GO CHECK OUT HER PAGE ON INSTAGRAM TO SEE MORE OF WHAT SHE DOES.
The new Mulan lacks the Disney magic of the other live actions, I found it tiresome, frustrating and the acting very lacking in some parts. The action was reminiscent of a martial arts film, which in itself would be enjoyable, but when you pair it with being a Mulan remake just forms really disappointing and cheesy action scenes. I was also sad to discover that after all of the backlash the film had been getting about its lead actress - Liu Yifei, her acting felt a little wooden. We have an additional character - a witch, whom personally I think brings absolutely nothing to the plot of the film other than irritating camera angels when she attempts to exert her power. One moment she is a strong ominous character and the next she is overthrown in the blink of an eye. We also had the addition of a CGI phoenix, rife with symbolism, a beautiful creature flying around in moments of hope and power, but the whole time I was thinking we have this, and no Mushu?! Our actress was also very unconvincing as a boy, so their surprise upon learning she was in fact a woman, felt very forced. I was, however, delighted to hear instrumental versions of 2 original songs in the background, and some paraphrased lines from the original Mulan subtly added in as Easter eggs for us uber fans of the animated film. The film itself, visually was stunning, sweeping landscape shots, interesting costume design and beautiful colours encapsulated the seductive aesthetics of China. I was also happy to see that whilst we still had hints of romance, it did not take over the plot or cause Mulan to fight for just one man, I still felt she was fighting for her family, her honour, and her right to be a strong woman. Now I feel I have slated the film a lot, but bare in mind I am a HUGE orginal Mulan fan and overall I feel I would have enjoyed the watching experience had it been a general martial arts film set in China, but as it was a highly anticipated Mulan remake, that had been set back multiple times, I was sadly very disappointed.
The new Mulan lacks the Disney magic of the other live actions, I found it tiresome, frustrating and the acting very lacking in some parts. The action was reminiscent of a martial arts film, which in itself would be enjoyable, but when you pair it with being a Mulan remake just forms really disappointing and cheesy action scenes. I was also sad to discover that after all of the backlash the film had been getting about its lead actress - Liu Yifei, her acting felt a little wooden. We have an additional character - a witch, whom personally I think brings absolutely nothing to the plot of the film other than irritating camera angels when she attempts to exert her power. One moment she is a strong ominous character and the next she is overthrown in the blink of an eye. We also had the addition of a CGI phoenix, rife with symbolism, a beautiful creature flying around in moments of hope and power, but the whole time I was thinking we have this, and no Mushu?! Our actress was also very unconvincing as a boy, so their surprise upon learning she was in fact a woman, felt very forced. I was, however, delighted to hear instrumental versions of 2 original songs in the background, and some paraphrased lines from the original Mulan subtly added in as Easter eggs for us uber fans of the animated film. The film itself, visually was stunning, sweeping landscape shots, interesting costume design and beautiful colours encapsulated the seductive aesthetics of China. I was also happy to see that whilst we still had hints of romance, it did not take over the plot or cause Mulan to fight for just one man, I still felt she was fighting for her family, her honour, and her right to be a strong woman. Now I feel I have slated the film a lot, but bare in mind I am a HUGE orginal Mulan fan and overall I feel I would have enjoyed the watching experience had it been a general martial arts film set in China, but as it was a highly anticipated Mulan remake, that had been set back multiple times, I was sadly very disappointed.
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