(Photo: Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Lulu Wang 鈥�05 began 2019 as just another promising filmmaker chasing her dreams in Hollywood. Then, in late January, her movie The Farewell debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. The film鈥攁 moving exploration of the cultural tensions that arise when a Chinese family decides to conceal from a beloved grandmother the fact that she has only a short time left to live鈥攃atapulted Wang into the spotlight. The Farewell was a commercial and critical success (it currently has a 99 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating), and Wang suddenly found herself the subject of glowing press coverage, including a spot on Variety magazine鈥檚 鈥淭en Directors to Watch鈥� list. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a whirlwind and I鈥檓 still trying to get my balance,鈥� Wang said when I caught up with her a couple of months ago. 鈥淣othing has been the same.鈥�
Wang is no stranger to new beginnings. Born in Beijing, she was 6 years old when her parents immigrated to the United States, settling in Miami. After high school, she again moved to unfamiliar territory鈥攖his time to Boston College, where she majored in literature and music with plans to become a lawyer. 鈥淢y parents never shed light on the possibility of me being a filmmaker,鈥� she told me. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no one that looks like me out there doing it in this country. I think that was the reason.鈥�
During Wang鈥檚 senior year, though, she enrolled in photography and film classes, shooting footage on Super 8 film and pulling all-nighters with friends in the basement of Devlin Hall.
鈥淲e would be down there editing, finding music鈥攊t was just a thrilling time,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was a thrilling way to discover my passion.鈥�
As a filmmaker, Wang finds inspiration in the complex dynamics of the modern family, often drawing from her own experience as a child of immigrants. The elaborate lie at the heart of The Farewell, for instance, is based on a true story. As is common in some Asian cultures, Wang鈥檚 relatives really did keep from her grandmother, Nai Nai, the results of a positive cancer test. They also did stage a wedding in China to bring the family together one last time.
Wang abandoned a previous attempt to turn the experience into a movie when she couldn鈥檛 find anyone willing to back her vision of shooting the film in her grandmother鈥檚 hometown, using an all-Asian cast that would speak mostly in Mandarin. Instead, she shared the story on a 2016 episode of NPR鈥檚 This American Life. After that, she got offers to shoot a movie her way.
The Farewell has been lauded for deftly mixing personal narrative with universal truths, a balance Wang achieved by forcing herself to mentally separate the film鈥檚 characters from their real-life counterparts, in particular her own character, Billi, who is played by the actress Awkwafina. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want Billi to be just an impression of me,鈥� Wang told me. 鈥淚 wanted her to be a vessel, a conduit for the audience and for all immigrant American kids who left their home country and have to go back and don鈥檛 belong.鈥�
On set, members of Wang鈥檚 family were occasionally in attendance, including her great-aunt Hong Lu, who plays herself in the film. Another visitor? Nai Nai herself, who is still alive, and who still doesn鈥檛 know about the terminal diagnosis she received six years ago. To keep the secret, the plot of the movie was withheld from Nai Nai. Eventually, Wang said, the family will need to figure out how to tell her the truth. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a family affair,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e made me complicit in the lie and I鈥檝e made them complicit in the movie. We鈥檙e all inextricably linked.鈥�
Alix Hackett | Boston College Magazine | December 2019
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