A rose-tinted look at the life of Amy Winehouse
Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson Writer: Matt Greenhalgh 15 122 mins Do you remember in woodwork at school, when you finished a project and then you were told to smooth the rough edges? I don't think I need to finish the analogy for you to see where I'm going with this... Back in 2015, I sat in a cinema with other Winehouse fans, absorbed in the Asif Kapadia documentary, 'Amy', which unashamedly showed the various stages of Winehouse's frantic, soulful, and ultimately tragically short life, using archive footage from home videos, performance footage and audio from friends and family. It is difficult to watch at times. An incoherent Winehouse walking on stage looking bewildered and out-of-control as she is heckled and booed... it's heartbreaking, disturbing, and infuriating that the people she should have relied on the most, are nowhere to be seen. Now we have Back to Black, a biopic by Sam Taylor-Johnson exploring the same turbulent years of Amy Winehouse. My main issue with the film... those rough edges I mentioned before? They needed to be explored. If you are choosing to do an honest, raw portrayal of an icon, you either turn it up to eleven, or you do a Greatest Showman and fabricate the whole story. Back to Black fits somewhere between the two. Every character comes out of the film looking like pretty decent, uncomplicated human beings. I applaud not demonising people; after all, these are real people, and none of us can really know the truth about events [it's the pass most bio-pics are given] but certain events are so glossed over that I was fully expecting certain family members to be listed as executive producers in the closing credits. Amy's father is seen as nothing but supportive and concerned, [his decision to follow Amy with a film crew to make a documentary whilst his daughter was recovering is not mentioned, nor his insistence that she go on tour whilst clearly struggling] ; Blake is portrayed as an impish rogue who helps Amy find her sound and isn't even present when she first takes Class A drugs [He's just a confused soul who is worried Amy is going to run off with a celebrity. Hmm.] Amy's mother barely has two lines. Her friends, so vital to her [as seen in the Amy documentary] are reduced to clapping hands in the audience. Sam Taylor-Johnson has tackled icons before. Nowhere Boy, a film about the early life of John Lennon, also received mixed reviews. I have sympathy in that there are so many Beatles experts who will spot inaccuracies or an OOC moment a mile off, but here she tackles another problem in that the life of Amy Winehouse is still so fresh in the target audiences mind. I couldn't help but think this would have faired better on stage, where audiences are more forgiving of exposition and monologues. On film it is jarring and at times uncomfortable to view. The film isn't terrible by any means. It is fast-paced, funny and poignant at times, with a clear love for its subject matter. The performance by Marisa Abela [as Winehouse] is certainly one to be admired. I was surprised to learn before watching that she, like Taron Edgerton before her in Rocketman, had chosen to sing the vocals herself, which she does with impressive gusto. Giles Martin has done a fine job with the music, and it immediately wants you to listen to Amy's back catalogue. On occasion, I thought the impersonation a bit exaggerated, but overall, she leads the film skillfully and well. What would Amy have made of this? I wouldn't even dare try and imagine. I suppose we all wonder how we want to be perceived by future generations.... I suspect, to find the real Amy, we need only listen to the songs she has left behind. The parts in between should maybe be left alone...which is the difficulty of the biopic. Back to Black is showing in cinemas from today.
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