Another launch coming in 2021 both in cinemas and in the main platforms of streaming on demand, "The Farewell”Talks about the importance of the family in good times and, especially, in bad times. The family can be a blessing, but it can also be one of the most complex social spheres that generate frustrations and conflicts, often ceasing to be welcoming and becoming intimidating and, unfortunately, sometimes we only realize this when it is too late. That is why, Black bird becomes a pearl for our times.
The drama of Roger Michell is an emotional dive into family life that causes us to reflect due to his approach to the assisted suicide, a topic that is not much debated and in the feature film, we are introduced to a mother and wife who decided to say goodbye ahead of time due to a degenerative disease and this farewell is surrounded by conflicts that have not been well resolved.
Well, you must be wondering what is this "assisted suicide" and / or "euthanasia". Come on! According to a publication made by the website Politize!, euthanasia can be considered as a treatment for patients with incurable diseases, whose purpose is to guarantee these people a more humanized death, with less suffering. It is a practice in which an agent, moved by the feeling of compassion for the clinical situation in which the patient finds himself, anticipates his death, so that he no longer postpones the suffering. In short, it is assisted death. In Brazil, it is not allowed. However, in countries like Holland and Belgium, they are the only countries in the world that expressly allow the practice of euthanasia. Switzerland does not have express legislation on the practice, but recognizes the right of patients to choose painless and humanized death. Uruguay, on the other hand, was the first country to tolerate such a practice, through an analysis of a specific case. In the feature, we have a brief explanation of the decision of Lily who wants to spend her last moments with her family.
The production portrays the last days of Lily, lived by Susan Sarandon, who, with a disease that will make her vegetarian in a short time, decides to die consciously and, therefore, marks a weekend to spend her last hours with important people like her husband, daughters and the people they love . Her daughters, Jennifer, played by Kate Winslet and Anna, character of Mia Wasikowska, travel to the parents' property with their companions, companions and children for the meeting. We realized that the director aims to create a 'pre-death' ritual with the initial images, giving a funereal tone that takes care of it until the end of the plot, however, with different dosages in the course of the work.
We have a reception that is cold and we can see that due to the look of the camera that expands from the tip of the rooms showing an overview of the space of the house, of each place that contemplates the presence of the characters. However, when the characters start to interact with each other, we have a feeling of intimacy and, in a way, a sense of understanding is felt around this strong theme such as euthanasia and the internal and ethical conflicts of those involved.
The quality of the performances in “The Farewell“. The characters of Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet and Mia Wasikowska are different, but they complement each other, they complement each other. A striking detail is one of the initial scenes, as Winslet's character complains to her husband for having honked her horn before Lily's arrival - who is walking towards death - and a little while later she has an attitude of complete epiphany. as if he were celebrating something very good when he saw his mother arrive. This shows us that reality requires those behaviors that need to be, perhaps, even faith. Therefore, the film becomes very sensitive with these small gestures of humanity.
The character Anna of Wasikowska, on the other hand, has sequences with high dramatic force, such as the questioning of her sister about her sexuality and the non-acceptance of the festive aspect with which her family members are reunited. However, in Lily we see someone who does not want to suffer anymore and at that moment what she wants is to lead this rough path and that often becomes a lonely walk, after all we do not take anyone with us to the grave. However, with this decision of assisted suicide and this pre-death “fraternization” makes the viewer feel affection and care on the part of Lily.
But it is in this care that we see the loopholes of frustrations begin to appear as at Christmas dinner or on the walk they take together. These are delicate moments that show us how difficult it is to fit into the community in which we were born, it is difficult to fit into our own family, as we expect support, understanding and acceptance from them and this is denied in many situations and the character who carries this weight under the shoulders is Anna. It is the real proof that we think that our words laden with criticism will not be absorbed by those we love, but it is much easier to remember criticism than affection, we are conditioned to that. The fact that she has moved away, we understand it as a sign that she wants to avoid new hurts and this bitterness that she carries in her, cannot be shown or felt, because it is accompanied by love and pain as well. It is difficult to understand the ambiguity of this feeling, although we have already felt it in our lives.
The soundtrack is safe, without much boldness or extravagance, it is just the measure. The photograph is beautiful. The script has some flaws and brings a somewhat "novel" twist that shocks and generates a strangeness and it is at that moment that some cuts and close-ups they end up hinting at a sensationalism that they didn't need. Despite this gap, the feature resumes the funeral tone and with this ritual makes the reflection on the way we treat those we love more profound.
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