Saw this last night. Easily one of the best movies of the year so far. In fact, after 88 reviews, it's still at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. If they would have held this 'til the fall, I could see it getting Oscar buzz, but hopefully it's able to resonate this summer. It's out in limited release this weekend, which includes Austin and Dallas, so check it out if you get the chance...

Ha, dude. Spoiler. Yes, but that's literally the final reveal of the movie.

Mind spoiler tagging that?

Oops! I had no idea. I just removed it.

I'm upset there was no spoiler alert where I read that!!!

No worries. Thanks. Yeah, that's kind of crazy they'd reveal that so easily. I mean, I get it, since this is based on a true story. But I had no idea going in and that knowledge would have definitely affected the experience.

If it's any consolation, it's not part of the actual narrative. It's just a quick little tag added at very the end.

That said - good to have you back.

When I saw Yesterday, through the crap pile of previews, this one shown through. You could see the soul of a sad and heartwarming story about family, honor, sacrifice, and loss.
But I will likely wait til it's on hbo before watching, don't like getting emotional in theaters.

Yeah, agreed. I'd say it's been that way for both art house and mainstream this year. The below are the only six movies I can even think to put on any kind of a "best of" list so far this year, and I wasn't even that big of a fan of Yesterday. Granted, I've missed a few indies this year, but still, I can usually at least put together a top ten more than halfway through the year. The fall looks promising, though. We shall see...

https://variety.com/2019/film/box-office/the-farewell-box-office-per-theater-average-awkwafina-lulu-wang-1203267055/

I haven't seen the film, but on my commute to work I did catch a podcast repeat of "This American Life" that showcased the real life story of what the movie is about. The update that was added at the end of the story on the podcast made it more interesting and I hope to check this film out sometime.

I had great hopes for this one, but I was somewhat disappointed.

I had never heard of Awkwafina until I saw some of Crazy Asians, an earnest but pedestrian movie in which she was a welcome spark of life.

She doesn't fit so well in this film, though of course the circumstances are not comic.

I completely bought in to the grief portrayed by Nai Nai's two sons, especially Billi's father. Billi's mother does a fine job of playing her nuanced love of granny. I enjoyed the East/West commentary and the exploration of the theme that in order to move ahead, you have to leave some parts of you behind. It's a common theme involving people who immigrate, or people who take a job in a city far from home, or people who go to college away from their parents. Obviously when the people you leave behind advance in age, the consequences of your leaving are drawn in much sharper relief.

The woman who plays the grandmother is amazing. Just perfect.

The story itself is slight; much of the interest comes from the fact that the movie explores a foreign culture.

I guess I just never connected with Billi's character. Not sure why.

Definitely a good film, but not great, and not one that needs to be seen in a theater.

OldArmy71 said:

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I had great hopes for this one, but I was somewhat disappointed.

I had never heard of Awkwafina until I saw some of Crazy Asians, an earnest but pedestrian movie in which she was a welcome spark of life.

She doesn't fit so well in this film, though of course the circumstances are not comic.

I completely bought in to the grief portrayed by Nai Nai's two sons, especially Billi's father. Billi's mother does a fine job of playing her nuanced love of granny. I enjoyed the East/West commentary and the exploration of the theme that in order to move ahead, you have to leave some parts of you behind. It's a common theme involving people who immigrate, or people who take a job in a city far from home, or people who go to college away from their parents. Obviously when the people you leave behind advance in age, the consequences of your leaving are drawn in much sharper relief.

The woman who plays the grandmother is amazing. Just perfect.

The story itself is slight; much of the interest comes from the fact that the movie explores a foreign culture.

I guess I just never connected with Billi's character. Not sure why.

Definitely a good film, but not great, and not one that needs to be seen in a theater.

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it was good but kind of dull...was expecting more comedy and the main character was the least interesting in the movie. You can have a drama with a good amount of comedy...Steel Magnolias comes to mind.

Overall I'd recommend it....

Quote:

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the main character was the least interesting in the movie

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That's exactly the way I felt.

once the movie comes out in China the jig is up, hope the grandma doesn't immediately take a turn for the worse

OldArmy71 said:

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I had great hopes for this one, but I was somewhat disappointed.

I had never heard of Awkwafina until I saw some of Crazy Asians, an earnest but pedestrian movie in which she was a welcome spark of life.

She doesn't fit so well in this film, though of course the circumstances are not comic.

I completely bought in to the grief portrayed by Nai Nai's two sons, especially Billi's father. Billi's mother does a fine job of playing her nuanced love of granny. I enjoyed the East/West commentary and the exploration of the theme that in order to move ahead, you have to leave some parts of you behind. It's a common theme involving people who immigrate, or people who take a job in a city far from home, or people who go to college away from their parents. Obviously when the people you leave behind advance in age, the consequences of your leaving are drawn in much sharper relief.

The woman who plays the grandmother is amazing. Just perfect.

The story itself is slight; much of the interest comes from the fact that the movie explores a foreign culture.

I guess I just never connected with Billi's character. Not sure why.

Definitely a good film, but not great, and not one that needs to be seen in a theater.

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I also had high hopes but left think it was okay but not great. My recommendation would be to wait until it becomes available on demand.

After rewatching this (its free on Prime as most A24 stuff is) I definitely feel it got a pretty big snub by the Oscars. Probably impossible to get two mostly foreign language films nominated for best picture but it was better than half of the nominees imo. The bigger snub is Zhao Shuzhen as Nai Nai though. She was the just amazing.