Mark Reviews Movies: FAREWELL AMOR

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Review by Mark Dujsik | December 10, 2020

Walter (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine) and Esther (Zainab Jah) haven't seen each other for 17 years. They're married and have a daughter, who's now a teenager. That means Walter hasn't seen Sylvia (Jayme Lawson), his daughter, except maybe by way of photographs, for most, if not all, of the girl's life. The weight of these thoughts and all that this family has missed for almost two decades feels almost incomprehensible. How did they do it? Now that the family is reunited, is it even possible that these relationships will return to some kind of normalcy?

Those are the difficult questions presented by Farewell Amor, writer/director Ekwa Msangi's mostly tender story about this family and its members' attempts to reconcile a lengthy absence with sudden togetherness. There are problems in those attempts, of course, but Msangi's view is mostly optimistic. All it takes is just a little patience, understanding, and time—maybe, under the circumstances, too little time by the movie's estimate.

It does feel as if there's a bit of a gap in the movie's setup—of this family, made up of people who are almost like strangers to each other—and its ultimate outcome. We want the hope that these bonds can last, even in the face of separation and all of the complications that arise from that, but at what cost does this movie offer that sentiment?

Walter has been living in the United States—specifically New York City—for these 17 years, driving a cab to make a living. He and Esther originally came from Angola, meeting in college and starting a life together, but the civil war in the country became too much. Walter left for New York, hoping to make enough money to bring his wife and child to the States one day. At some point, Esther and Sylvia left for Tanzania, where the wife and mother joined a Christian community. Life went on, and the family remained apart.

Msangi's screenplay reveals this family history as the actual story progresses. That tale begins with Walter meeting Esther and Sylvia at the airport, where they embrace and affectionately, but somewhat awkwardly, stand in each other's presence for a bit. Things remain a little uncomfortable upon arriving at Walter's—now the family's—one-bedroom apartment. It was comfortable for him. It's cramped, with Sylvia's "bedroom" being a space behind a curtain in the living room, for all three of them.

Upon settling in as well as they can (with Walter continuing his routine, Esther cleaning up and decorating the apartment, and Sylvia starting at her new high school), the narrative unfolds in three sections—one for each member of the family. For Walter, the arrival of his wife and daughter has forced the end of another romantic relationship with Linda (Nana Mensah), who is still receiving mail at the apartment. Esther goes about housekeeping, listening to preachers on the radio to keep her company, and strikes up a friendship with their neighbor Nzingha (Joie Lee). At school, Sylvia becomes interested in a local dance competition, brought to her attention by classmate DJ (Marcus Scribner), but at home, she has to hide her passion for dancing, lest her mother starts talking judgment and prevents her from anything like a normal life.

The key here is how each section informs the others, providing a subtle detail or important development that we don't see from the others. It's all about perspective—how limited each of these character's is in regards to other members of the family, how someone's words or actions play in a different light when we have a broader context, how much these family members are hiding from each other in order to keep a sense of balance in a situation that is so new and uncertain.

Walter, for example, believes he has spared his wife the injury of the knowledge of his affair while they were apart, but in the scenes revolving around Esther, we see her initial suspicions blossoming into pain and doubt. That understanding informs the scene in which Esther discovers her daughter and DJ talking in Sylvia's "room." It seems like the exaggerated reaction of an overbearing mother, but knowing what Esther knows about Walter, we have a new level of sympathy for her in that moment.

The structure of Msangi's narrative is entirely about building sympathy for each of these characters, and in that regard, the movie is quite effective. We come to understand their plights from the past (The war they lived through and all the people they knew before, their fates sealed or unknown, are important), their current challenges, and their shared hope for some future that is at least stable.

As for how and how quickly all of these things come about and find some form of resolution, Msangi's relatively thin story misses out on further developing these characters and their individual struggles. Everything in Farewell Amor builds, not toward some emotional catharsis, but toward Sylvia's big dance competition (Walter supports his daughter, because he remembers when he and Esther would dance). It all seems so simple—too simple, in fact—in the bigger picture of what these characters have gone through, what they're still dealing with, and what more needs to be said and done for these wounds—new and old—to start healing.

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