Several years ago, Lulu Wang finished the script for The Farewell, a bittersweet and deeply personal story of a quirky grieving ritual in a Chinese American family.
The characters were real, and the scenario relatable. But nobody was buying it. American producers shied away because of the predominantly Asian cast and the abundance of subtitles. Chinese investors backed away because the story is told from the perspective of a character who they deemed too Western.
“Producers would ask whether it’s a Chinese movie or an American movie. But it’s not something I thought about. I don’t try to categorize my life or my experiences,” Wang said during a recent stop in Dallas. “I’m making a movie about my family that’s about trying to negotiate the different identities within you. People can see their own family in my family. You can tell a very universal story by exploring specifics.”
Frustrated yet determined, Wang took the unusual step of adapting her script for the radio, as a 2016 episode of “This American Life.” That helped validate the idea for potential financiers.
And now, six months after it generated major buzz at the Sundance Film Festival, the low-budget film is on the verge of becoming a summer breakout hit.
The story is told through the eyes of Brooklyn immigrant Billi (Awkwafina) as her family plans a makeshift wedding in China, which is really an excuse to gather one last time with their matriarch (Shuzhen Zhao) while concealing her recent terminal cancer diagnosis. As they keep the secret throughout an awkward goodbye, Billi contemplates the ethical ramifications of the scheme.
Once Wang found producers who supported her vision, they enabled her to fulfill a dream by shooting in China. She was even able to include her real-life great-aunt in the ensemble cast.
Wang (Posthumous) wanted to keep the emotions as honest as possible, which meant balancing the obvious sadness with generous doses of gentle humor as she pokes fun at the absurdities of the real-life situation.
“Going through that experience, there was so much joy. All of the emotions are heightened when you’re going to lose somebody, and this might be the last chance for you all to be together like this,” Wang said. “I didn’t want to tell jokes, but the humor comes from the recognition, or the context in which things are happening. I wanted the audience to have a choice. Two people can see the same scene and either cry or laugh.”
Although Billi’s experiences mirror those of Wang, the filmmaker said the story is only loosely autobiographical. She wanted Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians) to interpret the character herself rather than trying to mimic speech patterns and mannerisms.
“I told her she wasn’t playing a version of me. I wanted her to see Billie as a conduit for a lot of Asian Americans who have been through this kind of situation where they have to negotiate between two different worlds and different cultures,” Wang said. “Billie is a vessel for the audience, where they can go on this journey with her.”
