4.5/5 Amy A couple months ago, I reviewed what I believe to be one of the best rock and roll documentaries of all time, the beautifully bleak Kurt Cobain story Montage of Heck. If the similarly heartbreaking Amy, Asif Kapadia’s documentation of Amy Winehouse’s rise and fall, fails to reach such heights, it is not because his film lacks a genuine beating heart. In all honesty, Kapadia does not tell the story of a singer. Sure, his subject was an international superstar, but who he really wants to know is the the scared, chaotic, open-hearted, loving, and destructive woman behind the microphone. If you are currently not a fan or only know her mega-hit “Rehab,” Amy probably will not sway you. I admit that going in, as well as coming out, I did not care much for her two albums; but, like I said, the strength lives in the heart of its subject. And what an open, almost to a fault, heart it was. Watching Amy give her precious love away to enabling scum like her ex-husband Blake Fielder is a symphony of tragedy in its own right. No matter how hard you try, you will not be able to chastise her for her decisions. It’s painfully obvious that she really, truly believes this fool loved her as much as she loved him. As you can already tell, this is not a shallow, VH1 artist-of-the-week special. | Director: Asif Kapadia |
Mitch Winehouse, always eager to capitalize off of his daughter’s talents, pre- and post-death, sought legal action after the film was released. It’s not hard to see why. Saying that, it also does not take a psychologist to see what is going on here. When Winehouse’s excessive drinking and drug use first began affecting her work and threatening her life, everyone in her camp agreed that Amy should seek help. They even had her convinced, but she made the decision to do whatever her father believed best. As she sings in “Rehab,” “and my daddy thinks I’m fine,” Mitch talked her daughter out of seeking help due to upcoming tour obligations.
The dissonance in family support does not stop at Mitch. There is one particularly aggravating scene where her mother, Janis, turns a blind eye to her daughter's decade-long struggle with bulimia, describing it as a phase that she will get over. Needless to say, she did not.
I am not trying to blame everyone else in the story for Amy’s death. Neither does Kapadia. Using unseen archival footage, audio tracks, and interview audio - keeping the attention on Amy and not those being interviewed was a brilliant decision -, the director lays out Winehouse’s soul as bare and honestly as he can. Much like Montage, the intimacy can be overwhelming at times, making you feel like an intruder into the life of a wounded, shy girl-at-heart.
No one will deny Amy’s destructive nature, but the most troubling sight of all the sad sights is watching all of the people that were supposed to “love” her let her destroy her body. I kept wanting to scream “somebody help her!” Though a (small) select few tried, no one succeeded. Amy left this world in 2011 at the doomed age of all rockstars, 27, with only two albums under her belt. It’s shocking how much of an impact she made in such a short amount of time. We are still feeling the ripples of her loss; hopefully, Amy helps us to never forget.
(For local readers, Amy is screening in Jackson and NOLA.)
The dissonance in family support does not stop at Mitch. There is one particularly aggravating scene where her mother, Janis, turns a blind eye to her daughter's decade-long struggle with bulimia, describing it as a phase that she will get over. Needless to say, she did not.
I am not trying to blame everyone else in the story for Amy’s death. Neither does Kapadia. Using unseen archival footage, audio tracks, and interview audio - keeping the attention on Amy and not those being interviewed was a brilliant decision -, the director lays out Winehouse’s soul as bare and honestly as he can. Much like Montage, the intimacy can be overwhelming at times, making you feel like an intruder into the life of a wounded, shy girl-at-heart.
No one will deny Amy’s destructive nature, but the most troubling sight of all the sad sights is watching all of the people that were supposed to “love” her let her destroy her body. I kept wanting to scream “somebody help her!” Though a (small) select few tried, no one succeeded. Amy left this world in 2011 at the doomed age of all rockstars, 27, with only two albums under her belt. It’s shocking how much of an impact she made in such a short amount of time. We are still feeling the ripples of her loss; hopefully, Amy helps us to never forget.
(For local readers, Amy is screening in Jackson and NOLA.)