NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (June 2022): Criterion have transferred Ekwa Msangi's Farewell Amor to Blu-ray. It is cited as being a "Director-Approved Special Edition". Being a modern film this looks excellent in 1080P. It's on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. There is impressive detail in the film's many close-ups, strong contrast, realistic colors and frequent depth is exported. It looks flawless in the 2.39: 1 aspect ratio with many beautifully shot scenes.

NOTE: We have added 44 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround track (24-bit) in the original English language (with some Portuguese.) Farewell Amor is fairly passive but has some deft separations - airport, dance club etc. The score is by Osei Essed (who has done a lot of documentary work including Tower), and Farewell Amor some modern dance music - all sounding clean and crisp with consistent dialogue in the lossless transfer. Criterion offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Criterion Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Ekwa Msangi and cinematographer Bruce Francis Cole. Writer / Director Ekwa Msangi talks about the inspiration of her aunt and uncle serperated over immigration issues and the opening scene at Terminal 4 at JFK in New York. Bruce Francis Cole talks about the frame with a frame shooting in the small apartment. They discuss the cast; Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Zainab Jah and Jayme Lawson and the crew, African cultural differences, connecting over dance and its freedom, the film as a triptych, her 2016 short Farewell Meu Amor as a treatise of the main feature, how editing helps tell the story and much more about the production - hurdles, changes, identities, the war in Angola, the power of music etc. There are also 24-minutes on interviews with Farewell Amor actors Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine (Walter), Zainab Jah (Esther), and Jayme Lawson (Sylvia), recalling making the film. Criterion include three short films by Msangi; Farewell Meu Amor can be thought of as an immediate prequel to Farewell Amor that depicts a man on the morning of a long-awaited reunion with his exiled family, and the heartbreak of parting from his lover. The Market King is Msangi's 24-minute, 2014, comedic short film about a well-intentioned father who must have his daughter's hair braided at the market, a space where only women usually go and lastly is the dozen-minute Suspense that tells the fictional story of a man and woman working for an underground liberation movement. This short is set amid the very real post-election violence in Kenya a few years before it was made. There are also 13-minutes of several scenes deleted from the final cut of Farewell Amor, including an alternate ending. Lastly is a 2-minute trailer for Farewell Amor.

Ekwa Msangi's debut feature Farewell Amor is told from the perspective of three different characters in the circumstance of a family's reunion after a long-separation. It shows the difficulties with the unachieved perceptions of coming together after 17-years - producing some unexpected consequences and conflicts. I couldn't help reflect on its universality of, example, a family member after a long incarceration - how time effects relationships, intimacy, maturity and, in this case, the culture shock of relocation to a new country. It's brilliantly realized by Msangi and quite poignant. I look forward to more from her. The Criterion Blu-ray offers a new director commentary (the company's first in a while), stellar a/v, three shorts, deleted scenes and interviews. An impressive film and package that we fully endorse.

Gary Tooze