Barry Jenkins, African American, and Lulu Wang, Chinese American, are one of today’s Hollywood power couples! Barry is an award-winning film director, producer, and screenwriter and is probably best known as the director and screenwriter of the 2016 Academy Award winning film, “Moonlight”, and the director, producer, and screenwriter of the 2018 film, “If Beale Street Could Talk”. Barry also directed the 5th episode of the Netflix series, “Dear White People”. Lulu was born in Beijing and moved to Miami, Florida with her family at the age of six. She is fluent in both Mandarin and English. Lulu directed and wrote her first feature-length movie in 2014, “Posthumuos”, and she also wrote and directed the critically acclaimed 2019 movie, “The Farewell” which did very well on the Asian Film Festival circuit and was released to general theaters in July of 2019. Barry and Lulu started dated quietly in 2018 and first started doing red carpets together in early 2019. We wish Barry and Lulu continued success and incredible happiness!
After the record-breaking sales of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, Festival films are steadily rolling out for the summer. This month, escape the heat—in theaters or on the couch—and catch three brand-new Festival releases: Share, David Crosby: Remember My Name,and The Farewell.
A heartfelt celebration of both the way we perform family and the way we live it, The Farewell, opening in theaters July 12, masterfully interweaves a gently humorous depiction of the good lie in action with a thoughtful exploration of how our cultural heritage does and does not travel with us when we leave our homes.
Writer/director Lulu Wang imbues The Farewell with warmth and knowing wit, while the uniformly excellent ensemble cast (anchored by a breakout performance by Awkwafina) invites us to share this extended clan’s joy and sorrow—and to feel, for the length of this remarkable film, like a part of their family.
Director Lulu Wang attends The Farewell premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival
Film still above courtesy of The Farewell. Read more onSundance.org
I’m assuming other people have noticed this, but 1) I haven’t seen anyone talk about it, 2) no one I’ve told in real life seemed impressed, and 3) I think it’s just so clever that I wanted to share.
As a Chinese American, I really enjoyed Lulu Wang’s The Farewell. I’ve seen it three times, and I think I cried each time. I definitely recommend it if you’re an ABC/CBC/BBC/etc. or a learner of Chinese looking for a less intimidating Chinese-language film (since it is both in Chinese and English).
The Chinese title is 别告诉她, which means “don’t tell her.” The vibe is very different, so I was a bit curious. Well, 告别 means “to bid farewell.” So the English title is hidden within the Chinese title! I just thought this was so clever. I don’t know for sure that this was the thought process behind the title, but it can’t be a coincidence.
What’s the story behind these two titles? I will explain below. I don’t think this is a spoiler because you find out all this info very early on in the film, and the first paragraph of Wikipedia and non-spoiler reviews reveal all of this info too. But if you want to watch the movie 100% blind, umm avert your eyes.
Basically, Billi (the main charater) and her family have gone to China for her cousin’s wedding. But actually, the wedding has been planned last-minute as an excuse for the extended family to gather because Nainai (Billi’s grandmother) is sick and not expected to have much time left. However, the family hasn’t told Nainai, which is why they had to orchestrate the wedding to come see her. So they can’t tell Nainai the truth (别告诉她) that they are really in China to see her potentially for the last time (TheFarewell).
Disclaimer: I know Awkafina is considered somewhat controversial, and I have noticed a lot of negative posts about her recently. I personally think this film is important for Chinese Americans, so I am willing to overlook Awkafina’s flaws to watch it. The movie is so much more than her. If you disagree, that’s fine, but please just be respectful towards those of us who enjoy the film. Liking the film does not equate to taking a stance on her actions and behavior.
