Chinese families often avoid talking about death, but Say Goodbye Farewell directly faces farewell. The film delves into the field of "palliative care", which is related to the dignity of life, and delicately portrays the group portrait of people who are counting down their lives and bid farewell to the world gracefully.
The film "Say Goodbye Well", which just won the "One Belt, One Road" Film Week "Best Audience Favorite Film" at the Shanghai International Film Festival, held its premiere on June 20 and officially opened nationwide. The film is also the only domestic film in the screening unit of this year's "One Belt, One Road" Film Week.
The film is directed by Zhang Chi, written by Huang Zhongqi and Chen Sanjun, starring Gillian Chung, Lin Dongfu, Zhao Yurui, with special appearance by Tao Huimin.
Poster of "Say Goodbye"
"Say Goodbye Well" incorporates the city life of eastern Zhejiang into the theme of life and death, telling the story of a special family consisting of terminally ill single mother Ying Nuo (played by Gillian Chung), grandfather Ying Dahai (played by Lin Dongfu) and daughter Diudiu (played by Zhao Yurui), and their attitudes and choices when facing the farewell of life and death. The film explores the concept of life and death and the bond of family affection through the story of a family. On the day of the premiere, the main creative team accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from The Paper, sharing their original intentions and filming insights.
Zhang Chi, Gillian Chung, Lam Dongfu
The prototype of the character played by Gillian Chung comes from a hospice ward in director Zhang Chi's hometown of Ningbo. The director focused many of the moving stories in the ward on the protagonist's family. Zhang Chi revealed that the inspiration for the filming came from his thoughts on the topic of life and death when he was 40 years old. By chance, he walked into the hospice center of a community hospital and was deeply moved by the real situation. Initially, he planned to shoot a documentary, but finally decided to present it in the form of a feature film, hoping to be closer to the public. "We want to use a vivid story to let the audience understand hospice care, an issue that is not widely known but is closely related to everyone."
The protagonist Ying Nuo not only has to endure the pain of illness, but also has to resolve the five-year estrangement with his father (played by Lin Dongfu) and entrust his daughter to him. The director believes that this kind of pain of "the old sending the young" and the emotional conflict between generations can deeply show the complexity of life and death issues.
Lin Dongfu
Lin Dongfu changed his previous screen image of a "rich man or villain" and played an ordinary father in Ningbo. He mentioned, "Although this father has a different philosophy of life from mine, I can understand him very well."
Director Zhang Chi said that the most subversive performance in the film was given by actress Gillian Chung, "There is something calm and tenacious in her eyes."
Gillian Chung admitted that this was the most challenging role she had ever played. "This character is both a mother and a daughter, and she also has to face the torture of illness. From fear of death to final acceptance, the psychological and physical transformation is very complicated." In order to get closer to the role, she and her team visited a hospice hospital to observe the condition of the patients.
Stills from Say Goodbye
Gillian Chung said that she had to show both mental and physical suffering, as well as an optimistic and open-minded attitude towards life. "The most difficult thing was to express the pain and exhaustion of the body. I am grateful to the makeup artist for his help. The moment the makeup was done, I really felt like I had turned into a cancer patient."
Against the backdrop of an increasingly aging society, the film presents palliative care from the perspective of intergenerational relationships among three generations. This is not only an affectionate look at individual end-of-life care, but also a powerful questioning of social cognition.
Director Zhang Chi said, "We don't film death itself, but the light of family love under the light of death; we don't teach people how to face death, but inspire them to say goodbye and cherish the present. We won't educate the audience, but we will throw out a brick to attract jade, use a story to let everyone understand this topic, so that more people can understand and think about this topic."
Wang Ying, founder of the Shanghai Hand in Hand Life Care Development Center and a palliative care worker, commented after watching the film that the details in the film were very realistic. "You see the cakes and balloons in the ward, the birthday celebrations, the mahjong game, and the old lady wearing these cute and cartoon glasses. These are all things that are done in our ward." She said that the film aptly shows how an individual, a family, and a community spend their time facing the end of life.
Character posters of Say Goodbye
