Attempting to give a fresh spin on the American immigrant story, Ekwa Msangi’s debut feature, Farewell Amor, takes the form of a triptych, with each segment dedicated to the perspective of a different character. As 17 years have passed since Walter (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine) left a war-torn Angola for America—and his wife, Esther (Zainab Jah), and daughter, Sylvia (Jayme Lawson), are only now joining him in New York—this approach seems well-suited for exploring the three very different experiences on display. But while these distinct points of view sometimes help to flesh out the intricacies of a particular character’s emotional and psychological state, they just as frequently spell out what could already have been inferred from earlier sequences.
At the heart of the film is the fractured relationship between Walter and Esther, who have grown apart over their extended separation. And when Msangi’s focus is on this strained bond, she displays great empathy for both characters, never deflecting from their shortcomings and anxieties over their future. Walter was unfaithful to Esther, yet his attempts to distance himself from his long-time lover, Linda (Nana Mensah), who he broke up with before reuniting with his family, suggest a determination to make things work with his wife. Meanwhile, Esther may not have cheated on Walter, but her newfound religious intensity, which leads her to pray multiple times a day and even chide her husband for wanting to open a bottle of celebratory wine, leaves her feeling disconnected from the very Americanized Walter.
Rather than harp on Walter’s infidelity or the extremity of Esther’s religious beliefs, Farewell Amor sees them as necessary coping mechanisms that arose from the husband and wife being apart for so long. The film’s most moving and surprising moments come when the couple fights against their deep-rooted impulses and strive to bridge the gap between them. A tender and humorous scene where Esther accepts the help of her sweet but secular neighbor to get ready for a night out with Walter perfectly displays her resilience and commitment to her marriage. And Walter’s coaxing Esther onto the dance floor before dinner is his own sly way of reintroducing their past passion as a means of jumpstarting a dormant sensual connection.
Regrettably, the film’s third act, which follows Sylvia as she pursues her own passion for dance against her mother’s wishes, too often feels like it’s from a separate film. Throughout, as we see earlier scenes through Sylvia’s eyes, Msangi bluntly illustrates the girl’s disillusionment with America and suspicions that her father had been having an affair, both of which were heavily implied earlier on. When Msangi trusts her audience to suss out the meaning of her actors’ subtle gestures, be it a shift in posture or a quick look away from a loved one, Farewell Amor offers a piercing glimpse at a singular immigrant experience. But the film’s trifurcated structure ultimately causes the filmmaker to lose sight of her story’s core theme of familial reconciliation and follow a thread of teenage alienation that’s far less captivating.
Image/Sound
The Criterion Collection has sourced a new 2K master for this Blu-ray and the results are fantastic across the board. Image sharpness and detail is impressive, especially in close-ups, while the high dynamic range and strong contrast maximizes the impact of both the film’s more colorful sequences, such as those set at the dance hall, and its more mournful, shadow-draped scenes. As a lot of the scenes take place in the family’s small apartment, the 5.1 surround audio doesn’t often get a chance to shine, but the exterior and dance scenes are suitably robust and the dialogue is as clean as a whistle.
Extras
A new audio commentary features a lively, informative discussion between director Ekwa Msangi and cinematographer Bruce Francis Cole. They cover plenty of the technical details of the film’s making, such as their attempt to use a slightly different visual style for each of the three chapters. Most compellingly, Msangi discusses her aunt and uncle, whose 24-year-long separation inspired Farewell Amor, and the use of dialect coach to shape various accents. We also get a new interview with the three main actors, who speak to their attempt to bring out what wasn’t on the page and the collaborative spirit Msangi created on the set. The last features on the disc are a handful of deleted scenes, including an alternate ending, as well as three of Msangi’s short films. The foldout booklet comes with an essay by scholar Tiana Reid, who teases out the film’s exploration of characters stuck between pleasure and duty.
Overall
Ekwa Msangi’s flawed but ambitious feature-length debut receives a gorgeous transfer and a handful of illuminating extras courtesy of the Criterion Collection.
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