Amy

Starring: Amy Winehouse (archive footage), Juliette Ashby (voice), Nick Shymansky (voice), Yasiin Bey, Tony Bennett, Questlove
Directed by: Asif Kapadia
Rating: R
Genre: Documentary
2015

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Follows the rise and terrible fall of British singer, Amy Winehouse.

Review:

Tim: I was looking forward to seeing Amy. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, plus it featured an intimate look at Amy Winehouse. I can't claim to have been a Winehouse fan. I knew of her, I've heard her song, "Rehab", and that's about it. I was anticipating getting to know her and her life in more detail. After watching this film, I have to say I'm shocked it won the Academy Award and that so many people like it. It's not an especially good film.

The danger of documentaries like this may always be to err on one side of the subject to the detriment of the other. People are inherently complex and a good documentary will show a well-rounded view of the person being studied. That doesn't happen here. Director Asif Kapadia seems overly focused on the salacious details- the drug use, the toxic relationships, the disaster. From what I gather, this is all true and essential to understanding Winehouse, especially her death. However, the movie doesn't devote nearly enough time to understanding her genius. While I was never a fan, millions of people were. Why? What was it that made her so relatable? We get multiple scenes of her singing and the lyrics floating across the screen, as if this gives us insight into her creative process. It's a lazy way to do it- it shows the end result, but we're no closer to understanding how she got there. She seemed like a strong writer. How did she get so good? Did she have help or do it all solo? Kapadia seems focused on the results- these are the songs, this is how she died. There's much less care focused on the positives, on what she was able to accomplish.

Part of the reason all this bothers me is that it feels like the documentary is too one-sided. I went into this not knowing Winehouse, but not necessarily liking her, either. I wanted to understand her- to understand what made her famous and what led to her untimely death. This movie doesn't accomplish that. Based on this, I like Winehouse even less than I did when I didn't know much about her. Her parents failed her (especially her father, don't get me started on him). However, she failed herself. She made bad choice after bad choice- in relationships and in her lifestyle. The movie doesn't show us enough of the bright side of Winehouse- it's too much the dark. She obviously struggled with the constant media attention (by the way, if you didn't already view paparazzi as among the scum of the world, this movie should help with that) and she made myriad substance abuse problems. This documentary revels in that- the number of unflattering photos is stunning. The camera lingers on the worst of these, asking you to stare at a girl spiraling uncontrollably to her death. Sure, there's a few happier photos thrown in, but far less attention is given to these. As a result of all this, I don't feel like I understand Winehouse significantly better than I do now. I didn't connect with her. The message here seems to be that she was a troubled mess of a person, those around her didn't do enough to help her, and it's not surprising that she's dead. I believe the truth is more complicated than this.

I also think it was a mistake to not show the faces of those interviewed more. We get their disembodied voices, floating over archive footage of Winehouse. The problem here is that we don't get to know any of these people in Winehouse's life. They are presented here only as mirrors to Winehouse herself. Juliette Ashby talks many times in the film, yet I know nothing about her- only she was Winehouse's friend and was aware of her famous friend's decline. The movie has seemingly little interest in anyone who isn't famous. It feels like a misstep.

Amy is still probably a decent film. It does show you some sides to Winehouse you might not have known if you weren't a rabid fan. I don't feel like the movie truly does her justice, though. I left the film less enthusiastic about her than when I started, which isn't the intent of the film. Regardless of the approach and execution (which is where most of my criticism lies), this movie does show the tragic fall of a famous singer. It does deserve some credit for that.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5



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