By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.6
Director: Ekwa Msangi
Starring: Jayme Lawson | Joie Lee | Nana Mensah | Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine | Zainab Jah
Country: united_states
Year: 2020
Running time: 95
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11380884/reference
Michael says: “Told in ‘Rashomon’ style, from three different points of view, FAREWELL AMOR is a complex and difficult story of a family trying ti come to America from Angola after the Civil War. Walter has been in New York for 17 years, driving a cab, living his life, and trying that entire time to enable his wife and newborn daughter to join him from Africa. Finally, after all those years, they successfully reunite, but are nearly strangers living in a one-bedroom apartment and struggling to find each other again. In the long interim, Walter fell in love with an American woman, his wife Esther, found God, and their daughter, Sylvia, is a full-formed teen-ager, not the infant girl Walter left behind. Each of the main protagonists get a chance to tell the story from their point of view, but what director Ekwa Msangi makes clear is that no one is at fault. Everyone is trying their hardest to make a very difficult situation work.. Walter and Sylvia manage to bond through their love of dance, but Esther just seems to be drifting further and further out of reach for a satisfactory resolution.
“For her first feature, African filmmaker Edwa Msangi wrote an original screenplay as well. She does a great job at creating a difficult situation without creating any villains. It would be easy for some to blame much of the strife on Esther, as her religious ways seem strict and unforgiving, but a moment of vulnerability when Esther talks about how she turned to the Church while struggling alone with her daughter after Walter’s departure brings back our sympathy. The only stumble, and it’s minor,. was a decision to make the Church a bit of a ‘villain’ with regard to Esther, but I’m sure it’s also a common occurrence, so it doesn’t detract from the film. Great acting from the three leads as well, including Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine as Walter, Zainab Jah as Esther, and Jayme Lawson in her film debut as Sylvia (the actress will next appear in Robert Pattison’s THE BATMAN!) Joie Lee (Spike’s sister) turns in a nice supporting role as a neighbor who tries to help Esther navigate her new situation. 4 1/2 cats
“IFFBoston Fall Focus 2020”
Julie says: “This film was well worth seeing. Very well acted. My favorite dance of all the films this year happens near the end. You’ll know it when you see it! 4.6 cats“
4 cats from me. Delicate storytelling with emotional momentum. Sympathetic characters trying to connect with each other again.