Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

The Farewell 

This is a emotionally well crafted drama about family and sadness! This films plot is incredibly emotional and the film approaches it in such a realistic and grounded away that hits you with such impact by the greatly effective story but as well from its truly terrific performances that are fantastically acted by its cast. 

Firstly, This film has a very specific tone that is woven through its narrative that is a family that is preparing to say goodbye to their family member yet she doesn’t know she’s dying because they won’t tell her of her diagnosis. That’s incredibly powerful as you see her in such high spirits and in happiness when everyone around her is very upset and emotionally down and she doesn’t even know why and to me that was very powerfully shown onscreen. As they know that they have to enjoy every moment with her as it could be her last and their were some very simple moments in this film that are very simplistic moments but knowing before hand what’s happening in the background that’s she unaware of made those scenes hit harder emotionally. As the entire film feels so stylistically real and authentic I haven’t seen a film that has been able to grapple such a hard hitting premises like this since Terms Of Endearment which actually is quite similar in many ways of tone. So the ability Lulu Wang really brought a emotionally hard hitting realism to this picture that captivated me in ways I haven’t seen In a long time with the sense of family tragedy and sadness it’s so well captured. 

Secondly, The entire cast in this film is brilliant! Awkwafina delivers one of her finest performances yet as she delivers a hard hitting performance showcasing her range as a dramatic actor which I hadn’t seen her explore before and she’s brilliant at showing a total new side to her we had not seen before. Yongbo Jiang gives a incredible supporting turn in this film that shows a emotional rawness pain that will bring you to tears and amaze you. Shuzhen Zhao gives a truly captivating performance of sheer joy and love that will warm your heart and break it because she is unaware of what her family is hiding from her she is the heart of this film and gives a outstanding genuine performance of true joyous emotion. Everyone in this cast was truly terrific and all really jelled perfectly together to create this sense of family that you believed within seconds as they all share such great chemistry and you believe that they have known each other for years their all amazing. 

Lastly, This film is an emotionally hard hitting film about family and tragedy and it’s brought together so well by Lulu Wang that shows this portrait of family in such a realistic way that will bring you to tears by the end of the film. It also provides incredible strong performances from its entire cast and is a true gem of a film everyone should check out The Farewell is a outstanding film from start to finish! 

This film centres around a family who finds outs a family member has cancer and decide to not tell her and set up a fake wedding in order to bring the whole family together to say goodbye to her

Rated PG : for thematic material, brief language and some smoking 

Awkwafina : Awkwafina delivers one of her finest performances yet in such a emotionally captivating way in which we hadn’t seen her before! This actress’s has been giving such solid work in the last few years from her greatly comedic performance in Crazy Rich Asians to her con artist role in Oceans 8 she is a scene stealer whenever she is in a film but I’ve never seen her delve into the dramatic genre before and here she flexes her dramatic muscles to such amazing capacity. In the film she plays the granddaughter who’s grandmother is dying which she is told but can’t tell her that she is and the way Awkwafina goes about delivering all of this onscreen was incredible! She brings this character to life with such emotionally restraint as for the majority of this film she keeps to herself as well as her thoughts but from the sheer emotion that wipes across her face we can tell how she is feeling at every moment. She talks throughout the film but she’s very quiet in the sense that she keeps to herself as she’s upset at her family for thinking this is fine for not telling her grandmother and so she bottles up all of this frustration and sadness onto her shoulders until she reaches a breaking point by the later part of the film and breaks down into tears as she then spills out of her mouth all the amounting frustration, anger and sadness she’s been feeling in such powerfully acted emotional vulnerability that is so powerfully shown by her onscreen. She brings this weight to the film of sadness while trying to stay strong for her grandmother in many ways she’s carrying the sadness for her grandmother and that’s very deep and Awkwafina brings the dialogue to crackling emotional honesty that hits you like a wave and she goes into some very deep places emotionally we hadn’t seen her go before and it’s phenomenal as I would love to see her do more dramatic heavy roles as she’s proven here she can do it and she does it so well. She wraps herself in every scene of this film soaking in every emotion and expressing it in such raw emotional ways that showcases her great range as an actor that will dazzle you Awkwafina is truly outstanding in this film giving one of her best performances of her career. 

Yongbo Jiang : Jiang gives a truly heart wrenching performance of emotional sadness! Yongbo Jiang is an actor I am unfamiliar with as I hadn’t seen any of his previous work before this film but after seeing what he brought to this film I’ll definitely be keeping a eye out for his work in the future as he’s terrific in this film. He plays a supporting role in this film as one of the sons who’s mother is dying of cancer and he brings heartbreaking tone to his character that spoke such volumes. He brings a quietness to him like how Awkwafina brought to her performance in the sense his performance is even more emotionally restrained then anyone else in the cast. As for a big part of the film he was very stand offish as he didn’t want to talk or face the fact of what their all sad about as it is to painful. So he copes by putting his emotional guard up but even by doing that it can’t withstand the heartache he feels. As Yongbo Brought a terrific range of layers and emotion to this film in the most subtle ways as it spoke such powerful ways as he is literally falling apart emotionally throughout the film but has to try to stay intact and theirs a moment in the film where he gives this happy speech at a wedding that at first is happy but ends up being welled up in raw gripping emotion that was so intense as he tells his mother how much he loves her and Yongbo gives a greatly compelling supporting performance that is a small but very important part that is amazing to watch unfold. 

Shuzhen Zhao : Shuzhen gives a outstanding screen debut! Zhao is the heart and soul of this film giving a incredibly strong supporting performance that will have you smiling and then in tears. i am so shocked to hear that this is her first film ever as she was such a natural and gave one of the most emotionally gripping supporting performances I have seen this year. She plays a grandmother who’s diagnosed with cancer but is unaware of it. She plays this character in such a joyous way that warms you heart and stirs your soul as since she is unaware of her cancer she is so happy and full of great spirits as everyone else carries her sadness. She still though delivers a greatly layered performance as she brings the wisdom and the emotional punch that goes through the ceiling I say that as she can be so happy and full of joy but then be able to grapple with the family struggles that bothers her and she shows it in such a realistic emotional delivery that is very impressive to watch unfold. She has great moments of shades of anger, joy and sadness and through all of that you are always wrapped up in her performance as she sparks the dialogue to such life with her fantastic approach to the role and she captures this character in such authentic ways that feels so real. She is so emotive without even having to say a word either she speaks such volumes with a emotionally warm and impactful performance that will bring you to a puddle of tears by the end of the film she is marvellous. 

Lulu Wang : Lulu gives a outstanding directed film about family and tragedy! This filmmaker I am unfamiliar with but after seeing what she captured in this film I will definitely be looking at her stuff in the future as she gave a greatly directed and written film. She brought some of the most impactful family dynamic films I’ve seen in years as she brings this very real and grounded approach to the story that is being told as she captures the hardships and emotional pains that this family goes through in such a heartbreaking honesty that hits you emotionally. She keeps this story in such a relatable sense that the film tackles about pain, tragedy and love which everyone can relate to on some level and I love her approach to this film and the style she shows through the film as the grandmother is diagnosed with cancer but its other family members that carry the emotional sadness that the grandmother would feel but since she does not know they carry her pain and that is such powerful stuff I hadn’t seen in a film like this in years. She captures great performances from her entire cast that all give compelling work but also bring this great chemistry within the cast and you really buy and invest into their onscreen dynamic which is so genuine and authentic. Lulu brings dry humour the emotional heaviness that is required and the heart wrenching heartache and she is wrote and directed this film beautifully showing one of the most realistic portrayals of family tragedy and pain put on film this is masterful work.