The Farewell * * * *

          Isn't it weird how some directors can have years of experience and still turn out dud after dud, like they've got no idea what they're doing?
          At the same time, someone with very little experience will come along and make a film which is almost perfect.  Maybe it all comes down to whether you actually give a damn about what you're doing.

Do we look like we'd order take-away?

      This is a labour of love. Director Lulu Wang has based the story on her own family.  I don't know if they'll thank her for that, but boy, these characters are solid.
       It's a touching and insightful story into a Chinese family who gather for a wedding.  But the wedding is a ruse.  The real reason they are getting together is to farewell Grandma who is dying, but she doesn't know it and no one is going to tell her.  That the whole extended family have decided to keep Grandma's imminent death a secret from her might seem immoral.  That is, until you hear the philosophy behind it.
      It's a very talky film and most of it is in Chinese with subtitles, but it is beautifully translated.  At least I think it is, but what would I know?   I'd go hungry in a Chinese Restaurant if the menu didn't have numbers next to the items.  Actually as Lulu Want is Chinese/American, and fluent in both languages, I am pretty confident that the right nuance were being conveyed.
    It's full of warmth, serious thoughts, self realization and many, many laughs.