Zhao Shuzhen’s grandmothers expect to be listened to, and her warmth makes that authority convincing. In The Farewell, she gives the family a reason to gather round her and us a reason to care.
Fi1m perspective
Zhao Shuzhen makes it believable that a whole family would organise itself around one woman in The Farewell (2019). Her Nai Nai is affectionate and forceful, with the self-assurance of someone accustomed to being heard. The relatives may have a secret, but she has a character beyond being the person they are keeping it from. Zhao does not ask us to find her grandmother charming at every moment. We believe in the family’s attachment because she feels particular to them.
That ease belongs to a long working life in Chinese theatre and television, rather than a sudden discovery in one film. Zhao spent roughly four decades in repertory theatre and has frequently played grandmothers and older maternal figures on television. The Story of Ming Lan (2018), in which she plays Wang Lao Tai Tai, sits within that established work. The Farewell was her first international film role. That history helps explain why she seems so comfortable among the competing feelings of Wang’s family.
Lulu Wang’s direction makes good use of Zhao’s familiarity with these family roles: the relationships need little explaining. Hong Lu’s Little Nai Nai helps establish the sense of relatives who know one another’s habits, while Awkwafina and Zhao give the film much of its emotional weight. We were moved by the family’s awkward concealment because Zhao makes their affection for Nai Nai easy to believe. She also makes it difficult to dismiss their decision to keep quiet.
One internationally prominent role is a narrow basis for judging a whole career, and we would not pretend otherwise. The reservation about The Farewell is the film’s tendency to explain the family’s choices too tidily. Zhao has already made their attachment convincing enough for us to consider those choices without quite so much assistance. Start there for her and Awkwafina, and forgive the script when it repeats what the performances have made clear.
Biography
Zhao Shuzhen is a Chinese actress. She is best known internationally for playing Nai Nai in the film The Farewell (2019).
She began her career at the age of 16 when she joined the Harbin Drama Theatre, where she appeared in over 100 stage productions. She has also worked extensively in Chinese television, including a role in the series The Story of Ming Lan (2018–2019).
Her performance in The Farewell earned her the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female, among other accolades.
