[yasr_overall_rating]
The story of Amy Winehouse in her own words, featuring unseen archival footage and unheard tracks.
My experience with Amy Winehouse I suspect is similar to most American audiences, which started with her success with the album “Back to Black” and the storm of flashing lights that henceforth surrounded her. Amy was this mystifying, even stupefying, creature with a voice that was heavy and sharp, cutting you to the bone. As fascinating to me as she was, I never understood her beyond the suffocating media frenzy that consumed her. And like many, it didn’t surprise me when she died. There was of course a sense of sadness given the situation but the feeling of true loss didn’t overcome until Asif Kapadia’s documentary of the late singer, aptly titled, “Amy.”
Asif Kapadia succeeds in creating a documentary that goes beyond the stale standard dramatic talking head interview. Instead he constructs the life and essence of Amy Winehouse from a slew of archival footage, voiceover interviews, concert footage, and some nauseating paparazzi footage. Kapadia attempts to give Amy’s life perspective and humanize her. We are first introduced with an adolescent Amy, fun and fancy-free, a birthday party where she bursts into song half-heartedly giving a sultry rendition of “Happy Birthday.” It’s wonderful and fresh, a true gem of footage. The documentary is riddled throughout with such gems.
Amy’s life is on display from early adolescence to death, with voiceover interviews narrating and commenting throughout, sharing what type of person she was, how she affected people and her own troubles throughout her life. And although we see Amy laid-out on screen, her voice is not overshadowed by her image. Amy narrates her own life through the power of her lyrics. Kapadia includes several clips of Amy singing or working on songs, rough acoustic performances, and he highlights her lyrics on screen. I was struck dumb by her brilliance. I’ve always enjoyed her music, her voice always is felt heavy, but the complicated simplicity and grit of her lyrics never came alive for me until I saw them onscreen. Her voice through her songs is the backbone of the documentary.
A sense of doom looms heavy over the documentary. We all know how the story ends, and Kapadia sets the tone from the beginning. From her mother admitting that she could not control Amy as a child to her father not really being present in her life to her bouts of bulimia as a teenager into her adult life, and even Amy herself states that she doesn’t think she’d be able to handle fame if it were to happen, weaves into an ending wrought with tragedy. The latter half of the film exploits, to an extent, the role of the media and negative influences of particular people, such as her father Mitch and her ex-husband Blake Fielder Civil, and their hand in the “slipping away” of Amy. It seems these are the villains, those who rode the gravy train and always demanded more gravy.
While the film is utterly heartbreaking, we see glimpses of an Amy that is fun, happy, and humble. Her humility and deep adoration for her idol Tony Bennett is achingly beautiful just as her laying down the track for “Back to Black” is haunting. “Amy” is felt like fingertips running down a spine or a hand around the throat. Her story is that of a phoenix that never gets to rise again. Kapadia has created a masterpiece that will not be forgotten so easily.
In theaters July 10th
