The Farewell (2019) - full transcript
A Chinese family discovers their grandmother has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to gather before she dies.
Nai Nai, hi!
Do you have
a second to save marine life?
- All right.
- I was gonna say
something snarky,
but I used to work this job.
Ooh, what happened, girl?
You got fired?
I quit! Because I was
about to get fired.
Hey.
Okay.
So one day,
the wife goes out of town.
And when she returns,
the husband says,
"Honey, the cat is dead."
And she says,
"How can you tell me
so abruptly like this?"
You have to ease me
into bad news.
Like, um, "Honey, the cat..."
"he got on the roof.
"And, uh, so...""
Now...
a few months later,
the wife
goes out of town again.
And she returns
and the husband
greets her again.
But this time,
he learned his lesson.
And as the wife comes
through the door, he says,
"Honey, your mom,
she got on the roof."
How did you get in here?
- Nai Nai.
- Billi!
Huh?
Oh.
Eh?
Okay.
I love you, Nai Nai.
I love you. I love you.
For what month?
For this month? May?
And what happened to April?
My mom says
you didn"t pay April yet.
You know,
if you moved out right now,
we could literally
double the rent?
So what,
you"re broke again?
Are you always
going to live like this?
Poor but sexy, I hope so.
Why you not try to save, huh?
You should change
your expensive lifestyle.
Mom, if you"re gonna
give me shit
every time I come home,
I"m not coming home anymore.
Lower your voice.
Dad"s sleeping.
Sleeping? It"s 6:00 p.m.
What"s wrong with him?
Nothing.
He"s just tired.
Is he okay?
He"s fine,
we"re just busy that"s all.
Busy with what?
What"s going on?
Hao Hao"s getting married,
so we have to go to China.
What? Since when?
Hasn"t he like just started
dating that girl?
You don"t need to go.
No one"s expecting you to go.
I mean,
he"s my only cousin.
Don"t you think
I should be there?
Okay, okay.
Do you think
he knocked her up?
How many wontons you want?
- Five.
- Five? That"s not enough.
Make a dozen then.
Ten"s good.
- Okay.
What"s wrong, Dad?
Nothing.
You and mom
got in a fight?
You"ve been drinking?
Please tell me
what"s going on.
You"re scaring me.
Something"s going on.
Just tell me what"s going on.
Your Nai Nai"s dying.
She has
a stage four lung cancer.
The doctor says
she has three months.
Could be faster,
you never know.
- I need to call her.
- You can"t do that.
- I need to go see her.
- Can"t do that.
She doesn"t know.
The family thinks
it"s better not to tell her.
So you can"t say anything.
I don"t understand.
She doesn"t have a lot of time
left, she should know, right?
There"s nothing they can do.
So everyone decided
it"s better not to tell her.
Why is that better?
Chinese people
have saying:
"When people get cancer,
they die."
It"s not the cancer that
kills them, it"s the fear.
Okay, when were you guys
gonna tell me this?
How could you
let me find out like this?
How should I have told you?
"Oh, your grandma"s on the roof"?
W-What about the wedding?
The wedding is an excuse,
so everyone can go see her.
We leave
first thing in the morning.
I need to go.
- Billi...
- I need to go.
Everyone thinks
it "s better if you don" t.
Look at you.
You can"t hide your emotions.
If you go, Nai Nai will
find out right away.
♪ Happy birthday to you
♪ Happy birthday to you
♪ Happy birthday, dear Tony
♪ Happy birthday to you
- Billi!
- Huh?
- Shoulda called first.
Mmm-hmm.
Stop fooling around.
Oil is hot.
Don"t be mad, Mom.
Where"d you get the money
to buy a ticket?
- Credit card, right?
Mom, I"m fine.
Look at my face.
Look at my face,
look at my face, look.
Take to table.
Hey. Billi.
I know.
- Billi...
- Hmm?
- Ah.
Uh...
Ah.
Ah. Okay.
Ah.
Thank you.
Ha! Ho!
Ha! Ha!
Ha! Ha!
Ha! Ha!
Ha! Ha!
Ha! Ha!
Ha! Ha!
Ha! Ha!
Billi.
So what "s goin" on
with the fellowship?
Nothing.
Oh, you still
haven"t heard anything?
No.
Well, when are they gonna
let you know?
I don"t know, Dad.
How are you
doing with money?
I"m fine.
- Can you afford this trip?
- Yes, I"m fine.
- You need help?
- No, I"m fine.
What is mei nu?
- Uh, it means beauty.
- Ah.
- Hmm?
Mmm?
Mmm.
- Huh?
- Okay.
What"s that mean?
They say
you"re a stock investment
and you"re gonna make us
a lot of money.
But I can"t
expect that from you, right?
You"re the losing stock.
Mmm.
Mom, that church
is not representative
of all America.
We have a lot of problems.
Guns, health care.
If you think
China"s that good,
why don"t you move here?
- What happened?
- I don"t know.
Hey!
Billi, it"s the wrong way!
He says it"s fine.
- We have to go around.
- He says it"s fine!
Watch it,
watch it, watch it.
Which way are we going?
Dad, do you know
where we"re going?
- This way.
- My umbrella...
- Is this the right way?
- Yes.
Are you sure?
- Ma?
Huh?
Nai Nai...
Visit from America?
I went to school
in the UK for many years.
Oh, that"s cool.
Where do you live?
Uh, I"m in New York.
New York.
I always wanted
to visit New York.
It"s a very beautiful city.
Yeah, it"s very beautiful.
Uh, question:
Do you know about
my grandma"s condition?
Uh...
Ma!
How bad is she?
You can tell me the truth.
The cancer is quite advanced.
Shouldn"t we tell her?
In her situation,
most families in China
would choose not to tell her.
When my grandmother
had cancer,
my family didn"t tell her.
Isn"t it wrong to lie?
I mean, if it"s for good,
it"s not really a lie.
I mean,
it"s still a lie.
It"s a good lie.
How"s your grandmother?
She passed away, a few months
after she was diagnosed.
Illegal.
How do you say "illegal"?
Ellen!
Mom, can we not
do this right now, please?
- Mom!
Can we not right now?
Just leave him alone.
Nai Nai should not
be organizing this wedding.
Well, if she enjoys it,
then just let her do it.
She"s sick.
She should be resting
or in a hospital.
Not stressing
about a fake wedding.
You really don"t know
your Nai Nai.
You know she enjoys
bossing everyone around.
Makes her feel important.
Makes her feel in control.
- Mom.
- It"s true!
That"s why she hated to stay
in America in our house.
You know? Because she could
not tell anyone what to do.
Whatever I do,
never good enough for her.
But she can"t say anything,
because it was my house.
Mom, stop!
What?
You have always had issues
with her, but right now...
I don"t have a problem with her.
She"s the one that have a problem with me!
She "s dying. Can" t you be
a little more sensitive?
What you want from me?
To scream and cry like you?
You know, when my father died,
I also very sad.
But I don"t act like you.
When I went back to China
for the funeral,
everybody was watching me.
They all were expecting me
to fall apart.
And they think if I don"t
cry, I don"t love my father.
No one"s asking you to cry!
I don"t like, you know,
put all my emotion on display.
Like I"m in the zoo.
But in here, if you don"t cry,
you don"t put a show,
they think that
you don"t love your family.
You know, in here,
they even hire some professional criers.
Just to show how sad they are.
It"s just so ridiculous.
I hate that.
Pour, just pour.
Yeah, pour, very good.
Mmm.
- Hey.
Hey.
Hey, this looks so familiar.
Do you remember that house?
You used to love to play
in the garden.
Where is it?
- Dad?
- Hmm?
- Are you smoking?
- Hmm?
Uh, I thought
you said you quit.
I did.
I will.
Go back to bed, Billi.
What"re you guys
talking about?
Nothing.
Billi.
- Mom?
- Yeah?
I want to stay in China
and help take care of Nai Nai.
What?
You stay here, to do what?
You can"t cook,
you can"t clean.
I"ll figure it out, Mom.
So you just stay here.
And what?
Wait for her to die?
What about the fellowship?
Just forget about it, huh?
You"re 30 years old,
but you can stop your life
and stay here?
And every day
she has to look at you,
with that sad-looking face?
That"s not nice
for anybody, right?
You know, one of the few good
memories of my childhood
were those summers
at Nai Nai"s.
They had that garden.
Ye Ye and I would
catch dragonflies.
And then we just moved
to the States.
Everything was different.
Everyone was gone.
And it was just
the three of us.
I know it was hard.
It was hard for us too.
I wanted to believe
that it was a good thing,
but all I saw
was fear in your eyes.
And I was confused
and scared constantly
because you never told me
what was going on.
And then Ye Ye died.
You didn"t even tell me
he was sick.
So it felt like he just
vanished suddenly.
And you wouldn"t even let me
go to his funeral.
You were at school.
We didn"t want you
to miss school.
We did what we thought
was best for you.
But I never saw him again.
And every time
I came back to China,
he just...
he just wasn"t there anymore.
And I come back
and he"s just gone.
The house is gone,
A Die"s gone,
our Beijing home is gone,
and soon she"ll be gone, too.
Billi!
Does everyone know?
I think
most people don"t know.
But I"m not sure.
Thank you.
I"m sorry.
Sorry, how do you say
congratulations? Dad?
- Thank you.
♪ And so I came to see her
♪ And listen for a while
♪ And there he was
♪ This young boy
♪ A stranger to my eyes
♪ Strumming my pain
with his fingers ♪
♪ Singing my life
with his words... ♪
Hey.
Hey, hey, hey.
♪ O gather up the brokenness
♪ And bring it to me now
♪ The fragrance
of those promises ♪
♪ You never dared to vow
♪ The splinters
that you carry ♪
♪ The cross you left behind
♪ Come healing of the body
♪ Come healing
of the mind ♪
♪ And let the heavens hear it
♪ The penitential hymn
♪ Come healing of the spirit
♪ Come healing
of the limb ♪
♪ Behold the gates of mercy
♪ In arbitrary space
♪ And none of us deserving
♪ The cruelty or the grace
♪ O solitude of longing
♪ Where love
has been confined ♪
♪ Come healing of the body
♪ Come healing
of the mind ♪
♪ O see the darkness yielding
♪ That tore the light apart
♪ Come healing of the reason
♪ Come healing
of the heart ♪
♪ O troubled dust concealing
♪ An undivided love
♪ The heart beneath
is teaching ♪
♪ To the broken heart above
♪ And let the heavens hear it
♪ The penitential hymn
♪ Come healing of the spirit
♪ Come healing
of the limb ♪
♪ O let the heavens hear it
♪ The penitential hymn
♪ Come healing of the spirit
♪ Come healing
of the limb ♪
Ha!
Ha!
Ha!
♪ I can"t live ♪
"♪ If livin" is without you ♪
♪ Can"t live ♪
♪ Can"t give anymore ♪
♪ Can"t live ♪
"♪ If livin" is without you ♪
♪ Can"t live ♪
♪ Can"t give anymore ♪
♪ I can"t live ♪
"♪ If livin" is without you ♪
♪ I can"t live ♪
♪ I can"t give anymore ♪
♪ I can"t live ♪
"♪ If livin" is without you ♪
♪ I can"t live ♪
♪ I can"t give anymore ♪
♪ Can"t live... ♪
Do you have
a second to save marine life?
- All right.
- I was gonna say
something snarky,
but I used to work this job.
Ooh, what happened, girl?
You got fired?
I quit! Because I was
about to get fired.
Hey.
Okay.
So one day,
the wife goes out of town.
And when she returns,
the husband says,
"Honey, the cat is dead."
And she says,
"How can you tell me
so abruptly like this?"
You have to ease me
into bad news.
Like, um, "Honey, the cat..."
"he got on the roof.
"And, uh, so...""
Now...
a few months later,
the wife
goes out of town again.
And she returns
and the husband
greets her again.
But this time,
he learned his lesson.
And as the wife comes
through the door, he says,
"Honey, your mom,
she got on the roof."
How did you get in here?
- Nai Nai.
- Billi!
Huh?
Oh.
Eh?
Okay.
I love you, Nai Nai.
I love you. I love you.
For what month?
For this month? May?
And what happened to April?
My mom says
you didn"t pay April yet.
You know,
if you moved out right now,
we could literally
double the rent?
So what,
you"re broke again?
Are you always
going to live like this?
Poor but sexy, I hope so.
Why you not try to save, huh?
You should change
your expensive lifestyle.
Mom, if you"re gonna
give me shit
every time I come home,
I"m not coming home anymore.
Lower your voice.
Dad"s sleeping.
Sleeping? It"s 6:00 p.m.
What"s wrong with him?
Nothing.
He"s just tired.
Is he okay?
He"s fine,
we"re just busy that"s all.
Busy with what?
What"s going on?
Hao Hao"s getting married,
so we have to go to China.
What? Since when?
Hasn"t he like just started
dating that girl?
You don"t need to go.
No one"s expecting you to go.
I mean,
he"s my only cousin.
Don"t you think
I should be there?
Okay, okay.
Do you think
he knocked her up?
How many wontons you want?
- Five.
- Five? That"s not enough.
Make a dozen then.
Ten"s good.
- Okay.
What"s wrong, Dad?
Nothing.
You and mom
got in a fight?
You"ve been drinking?
Please tell me
what"s going on.
You"re scaring me.
Something"s going on.
Just tell me what"s going on.
Your Nai Nai"s dying.
She has
a stage four lung cancer.
The doctor says
she has three months.
Could be faster,
you never know.
- I need to call her.
- You can"t do that.
- I need to go see her.
- Can"t do that.
She doesn"t know.
The family thinks
it"s better not to tell her.
So you can"t say anything.
I don"t understand.
She doesn"t have a lot of time
left, she should know, right?
There"s nothing they can do.
So everyone decided
it"s better not to tell her.
Why is that better?
Chinese people
have saying:
"When people get cancer,
they die."
It"s not the cancer that
kills them, it"s the fear.
Okay, when were you guys
gonna tell me this?
How could you
let me find out like this?
How should I have told you?
"Oh, your grandma"s on the roof"?
W-What about the wedding?
The wedding is an excuse,
so everyone can go see her.
We leave
first thing in the morning.
I need to go.
- Billi...
- I need to go.
Everyone thinks
it "s better if you don" t.
Look at you.
You can"t hide your emotions.
If you go, Nai Nai will
find out right away.
♪ Happy birthday to you
♪ Happy birthday to you
♪ Happy birthday, dear Tony
♪ Happy birthday to you
- Billi!
- Huh?
- Shoulda called first.
Mmm-hmm.
Stop fooling around.
Oil is hot.
Don"t be mad, Mom.
Where"d you get the money
to buy a ticket?
- Credit card, right?
Mom, I"m fine.
Look at my face.
Look at my face,
look at my face, look.
Take to table.
Hey. Billi.
I know.
- Billi...
- Hmm?
- Ah.
Uh...
Ah.
Ah. Okay.
Ah.
Thank you.
Ha! Ho!
Ha! Ha!
Ha! Ha!
Ha! Ha!
Ha! Ha!
Ha! Ha!
Ha! Ha!
Ha! Ha!
Billi.
So what "s goin" on
with the fellowship?
Nothing.
Oh, you still
haven"t heard anything?
No.
Well, when are they gonna
let you know?
I don"t know, Dad.
How are you
doing with money?
I"m fine.
- Can you afford this trip?
- Yes, I"m fine.
- You need help?
- No, I"m fine.
What is mei nu?
- Uh, it means beauty.
- Ah.
- Hmm?
Mmm?
Mmm.
- Huh?
- Okay.
What"s that mean?
They say
you"re a stock investment
and you"re gonna make us
a lot of money.
But I can"t
expect that from you, right?
You"re the losing stock.
Mmm.
Mom, that church
is not representative
of all America.
We have a lot of problems.
Guns, health care.
If you think
China"s that good,
why don"t you move here?
- What happened?
- I don"t know.
Hey!
Billi, it"s the wrong way!
He says it"s fine.
- We have to go around.
- He says it"s fine!
Watch it,
watch it, watch it.
Which way are we going?
Dad, do you know
where we"re going?
- This way.
- My umbrella...
- Is this the right way?
- Yes.
Are you sure?
- Ma?
Huh?
Nai Nai...
Visit from America?
I went to school
in the UK for many years.
Oh, that"s cool.
Where do you live?
Uh, I"m in New York.
New York.
I always wanted
to visit New York.
It"s a very beautiful city.
Yeah, it"s very beautiful.
Uh, question:
Do you know about
my grandma"s condition?
Uh...
Ma!
How bad is she?
You can tell me the truth.
The cancer is quite advanced.
Shouldn"t we tell her?
In her situation,
most families in China
would choose not to tell her.
When my grandmother
had cancer,
my family didn"t tell her.
Isn"t it wrong to lie?
I mean, if it"s for good,
it"s not really a lie.
I mean,
it"s still a lie.
It"s a good lie.
How"s your grandmother?
She passed away, a few months
after she was diagnosed.
Illegal.
How do you say "illegal"?
Ellen!
Mom, can we not
do this right now, please?
- Mom!
Can we not right now?
Just leave him alone.
Nai Nai should not
be organizing this wedding.
Well, if she enjoys it,
then just let her do it.
She"s sick.
She should be resting
or in a hospital.
Not stressing
about a fake wedding.
You really don"t know
your Nai Nai.
You know she enjoys
bossing everyone around.
Makes her feel important.
Makes her feel in control.
- Mom.
- It"s true!
That"s why she hated to stay
in America in our house.
You know? Because she could
not tell anyone what to do.
Whatever I do,
never good enough for her.
But she can"t say anything,
because it was my house.
Mom, stop!
What?
You have always had issues
with her, but right now...
I don"t have a problem with her.
She"s the one that have a problem with me!
She "s dying. Can" t you be
a little more sensitive?
What you want from me?
To scream and cry like you?
You know, when my father died,
I also very sad.
But I don"t act like you.
When I went back to China
for the funeral,
everybody was watching me.
They all were expecting me
to fall apart.
And they think if I don"t
cry, I don"t love my father.
No one"s asking you to cry!
I don"t like, you know,
put all my emotion on display.
Like I"m in the zoo.
But in here, if you don"t cry,
you don"t put a show,
they think that
you don"t love your family.
You know, in here,
they even hire some professional criers.
Just to show how sad they are.
It"s just so ridiculous.
I hate that.
Pour, just pour.
Yeah, pour, very good.
Mmm.
- Hey.
Hey.
Hey, this looks so familiar.
Do you remember that house?
You used to love to play
in the garden.
Where is it?
- Dad?
- Hmm?
- Are you smoking?
- Hmm?
Uh, I thought
you said you quit.
I did.
I will.
Go back to bed, Billi.
What"re you guys
talking about?
Nothing.
Billi.
- Mom?
- Yeah?
I want to stay in China
and help take care of Nai Nai.
What?
You stay here, to do what?
You can"t cook,
you can"t clean.
I"ll figure it out, Mom.
So you just stay here.
And what?
Wait for her to die?
What about the fellowship?
Just forget about it, huh?
You"re 30 years old,
but you can stop your life
and stay here?
And every day
she has to look at you,
with that sad-looking face?
That"s not nice
for anybody, right?
You know, one of the few good
memories of my childhood
were those summers
at Nai Nai"s.
They had that garden.
Ye Ye and I would
catch dragonflies.
And then we just moved
to the States.
Everything was different.
Everyone was gone.
And it was just
the three of us.
I know it was hard.
It was hard for us too.
I wanted to believe
that it was a good thing,
but all I saw
was fear in your eyes.
And I was confused
and scared constantly
because you never told me
what was going on.
And then Ye Ye died.
You didn"t even tell me
he was sick.
So it felt like he just
vanished suddenly.
And you wouldn"t even let me
go to his funeral.
You were at school.
We didn"t want you
to miss school.
We did what we thought
was best for you.
But I never saw him again.
And every time
I came back to China,
he just...
he just wasn"t there anymore.
And I come back
and he"s just gone.
The house is gone,
A Die"s gone,
our Beijing home is gone,
and soon she"ll be gone, too.
Billi!
Does everyone know?
I think
most people don"t know.
But I"m not sure.
Thank you.
I"m sorry.
Sorry, how do you say
congratulations? Dad?
- Thank you.
♪ And so I came to see her
♪ And listen for a while
♪ And there he was
♪ This young boy
♪ A stranger to my eyes
♪ Strumming my pain
with his fingers ♪
♪ Singing my life
with his words... ♪
Hey.
Hey, hey, hey.
♪ O gather up the brokenness
♪ And bring it to me now
♪ The fragrance
of those promises ♪
♪ You never dared to vow
♪ The splinters
that you carry ♪
♪ The cross you left behind
♪ Come healing of the body
♪ Come healing
of the mind ♪
♪ And let the heavens hear it
♪ The penitential hymn
♪ Come healing of the spirit
♪ Come healing
of the limb ♪
♪ Behold the gates of mercy
♪ In arbitrary space
♪ And none of us deserving
♪ The cruelty or the grace
♪ O solitude of longing
♪ Where love
has been confined ♪
♪ Come healing of the body
♪ Come healing
of the mind ♪
♪ O see the darkness yielding
♪ That tore the light apart
♪ Come healing of the reason
♪ Come healing
of the heart ♪
♪ O troubled dust concealing
♪ An undivided love
♪ The heart beneath
is teaching ♪
♪ To the broken heart above
♪ And let the heavens hear it
♪ The penitential hymn
♪ Come healing of the spirit
♪ Come healing
of the limb ♪
♪ O let the heavens hear it
♪ The penitential hymn
♪ Come healing of the spirit
♪ Come healing
of the limb ♪
Ha!
Ha!
Ha!
♪ I can"t live ♪
"♪ If livin" is without you ♪
♪ Can"t live ♪
♪ Can"t give anymore ♪
♪ Can"t live ♪
"♪ If livin" is without you ♪
♪ Can"t live ♪
♪ Can"t give anymore ♪
♪ I can"t live ♪
"♪ If livin" is without you ♪
♪ I can"t live ♪
♪ I can"t give anymore ♪
♪ I can"t live ♪
"♪ If livin" is without you ♪
♪ I can"t live ♪
♪ I can"t give anymore ♪
♪ Can"t live... ♪