Kapadia’s damning archival footage of dear old dad includes his crushing response to those who think his daughter needs rehab: “It’s Amy’s responsibility to get herself well.” For more, consult your local search engine.) (Mitchell has spoken out publicly against how he was portrayed in the film. Amy’s father, Mitchell, was a philanderer who walked out on the family, only to return years later as a parasite intent upon basking in the reflected glory of his daughter’s fame. Her weak-willed mother, Janis, “found it difficult to stand up to” her daughter and thought Amy’s bulimia at age 15 was just a phase. Indeed, the Amy Winehouse story is a tale with too many villains and not enough heroes. It couldn’t, however, overcome the forces taking advantage of her success and driving her to greater depths of drug and alcohol abuse.
fame that started with her 2003 debut album, Frank.īad Movies: Mommie Dearest + Clint Eastwood Among ‘Least Talented Directors’ Gilbert, along with fellow childhood bestie Juliette Ashby, represent Winehouse’s strongest support system, one that held its ground during a rise to U.K. Given her iconic look, it’s hard to believe Amy Winehouse was once just another cherubic teen living in a Jewish section of London, singing “Happy Birthday” to lifelong friend Lauren Gilbert. Otherwise, the film is a definitive, deeply felt look at this tragic and troubled talent, one that has the viewer practically reaching through the screen to grab Winehouse by her thin, fragile shoulders and push her away from the drug- and alcohol-fueled fate that eventually befell her. Definitive lookĪt moments, Amy can feel a bit too much like a rote timeline, moving in a linear, measured fashion that’s opposite to its subject’s vocal approach. Granted access to hours of intimate, never before seen footage provided by Winehouse’s friends and coworkers, Kapadia and editor Chris King have assembled a smooth-flowing, devastatingly sad chronology. It’s an impressive work of investigation, excavation, and organization. If it was, she might have lived.Īsif Kapadia, director of the heartbreaking documentary Amy, charts Winehouse’s descent with an almost forensic level of visual detail. Unfortunately, prodigious talent wasn’t the only notable aspect of Amy Winehouse.
And that’s to say nothing of her signature look: The beehive hairdo, the tattoos, and the increasingly garish make-up that would eventually hide much more than facial blemishes. Her voice was both propulsive and brittle, with a vibrato that could pound like a jackhammer or purr like Eartha Kitt. Her phrasing could turn any note into an adventure, bending and stretching it until it made multiple emotional statements. She has been compared to Billie Holiday (in more ways than one, alas) and Winehouse herself has noted Sarah Vaughn as an influence. She was an old soul belting out new school lyrics that were confessional, profane, clever, and withering. Her sound spans the decades: Bluesy and jazzy, a little bit punk and a little bit gansta.
In an era of disposable pop music, the songs of the late Amy Winehouse feel timeless.