Amy-Documentary Review

"I don't. I don't think I'm gonna be at all famous. I don't think I could handle it. I would probably go mad, do you know what I mean? I would probably go mad."
-Amy Winehouse
I won't say I was the biggest Amy Winehouse fan when she was alive, and I'm sure not her biggest fan now, but the film Amy really opened my eyes to an incredibly tragic story. I have so many ideas racing through my head while trying to write this review because this film made me feel so many different emotions. Happiness, sadness, anger, and most of all sympathy for a tragedy that could have been avoided. I do think Amy Winehouse was a beautiful soul. She was an old jazz singer stuck in a young girls body and she wasn't nearly prepared for what the world was going to throw at her. She was no saint and she made her own mad decisions, but that's not to say she wasn't a good person and no matter what you think of her, there is no denying that she was an amazing talent. Asif Kapadia directed this film and through the cooperation of her family members and friends, was able to make a truly amazing film in terms of both style and content.

I've always enjoyed watching a captivating documentary. I think it's a nice change of pace from watching traditional style films, and often times you learn a lot from them. Whether it be about gangs, entertainers, or the food industry, you usually come out with at least a different understanding of an issue. Before I jump into the details of Amy, I'd like to talk about why it was an overall fantastically made film. Kapadia was able to obtain a tremendous amount of personal footage from Amy's family and friends and even voice recordings and messages left on answering machines. It was such a raw look into her life which at times was so intimate, it felt morally wrong to even be watching on the big screen. You just know that some of the footage was recorded in confidence but it was such a unique window into this troubled woman's life.

The earliest footage comes from a bunch of 14-year old girls just goofing around and singing Happy Birthday, and in comes Amy with an powerful voice that just commanded the room. The film flowed along and was constantly being narrated by people in her life, from friends to managers to family. We never actually see the people speaking as many documentaries often show; instead we're just shown more footage from her life. It was beautifully edited and just had a feeling of seamless continuity. The film felt like an exposed nerve and you knew you were watching something genuine, something real.


The film progresses along, building up Amy's life before us from a young age. Her father had an ongoing affair for most of Amy's childhood and eventually left them to go be with his mistress. At some point in the film, Amy blames her sexual nature on the betrayal and absence of her father and she became a young woman. Her father, Mitch Winehouse, plays a very large role in this tragedy and it is of my opinion that he was one of the main reasons why Amy's life ended in tragedy, at the young age of 27. He even says it himself, "I was a coward." More like I am a coward. He profited off of his daughters success even when she was at her lowest and the sad part was that she always worshiped the ground he walked on. She was always daddy's little girl in her own head. 

The other catalyst of her destruction was her husband Blake Fielder. They met at a young age, before Amy really rose to fame and she was madly in love with him. Their relationship was on and off and this was her inspiration to write some of her biggest hits. There was a very nice scene from an interview where Amy is speaking about what writing music means to her. It always came from a very real place close to her heart. That must sound extremely cliché but Amy really wasn't one to just constantly release albums for money or fame and you could see that by the fact that she only had two albums to her name. But Blake was a destructive element in her life who was obviously just sticking around for the constant cash flow that he had from Amy. They first did crack cocaine together and that was their gateway drug, Everything else came flooding in after and it was just too much for Amy to handle.

Yes Amy decided to experiment with drugs and she became dependent on them through her own doing. The hardcore drug use combined with bulimia was a dangerous combination and she quickly hit rock bottom. This film gets very dark and does not shy away from the ugly effects of drug use. Not only was it destroying her body and her mind but it was also destroying her relationships. And she was doped up to even care about saving them. Accounts from her best friends really hit home and you could here the pure sadness in their voices. They loved Amy but hated who she had become and were not willing to be around as destroyed herself. 

Between her father, Blake, and managers with at the very least suspicious intentions, she had no real support to deal with her life-threatening problem. If she were to lay off the drugs, she'd substitute them with alcohol and vice versa. There were points in the film where you just wished you could pass through the screen and change her course, because before even buying the tickets to this film, you know how it ends.


One thing that really made me rage was the way the press handled her life. Aside from the paparazzi that were constantly outside her house harassing her, which happens to a lot of celebrities, she became the butt of a lot jokes on late night television and stand up comedians. It may be something you overlook in everyday life nowadays, but when you see the way the media is portrayed in this film it makes you both angry and sad, knowing that they were definitely an instrument in her downfall. Everyone will crack eventually.

The contrast between the joys of her life and the horrors really are a punch in the gut. At the end of the day, what Amy shows is that despite everything, Amy Winehouse was just as human as us, and no amount of money or fame could have changed that. She was a girl who got caught up in a life she never asked for and she just couldn't hold on long enough. As I'm writing this I can't really decide whether I think her death was truly inevitable. One part of me thinks that if she got help at certain points she could have certainly been saved and another part of me thinks that nothing could have changed her as a person and her death could have only been postponed not prevented. I think she had a fascinating life despite how sadly it ended. But more than anything I think this film celebrates her life and shows the world that Amy was something special, whether you already knew it or not.

Often times with talented people, they aren't truly appreciated until their gone. Michael Jackson got bad-mouthed so much before his death and just like with Amy Winehouse, was greatly praised after it. Many people came out of the woodwork regretting not being fans while she was still alive. I've gotten a chance to listen to her music more after seeing the film, and while it is isn't my favorite, I've found a new appreciation for both it and it's creator. Amy is an emotional film that will give you an insight into the life of a very troubled talent, that world lost way too early. At the end of the day Kapadia does a service to Amy Winehouse and puts the cards on the table. Who was responsible for Amy Winehouse's death? Amy Winehouse was. But she has help along the way and it's a damn shame she didn't get the right kind of help before it was too late. I give Amy a 9.5 out of 10.

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