Amy (2015) (English Language)

Review

128min

Genre:    Documentary, Fact-based

Director: Asif Kapadia

Cast:      Amy Winehouse, Mitch Winehouse, Tony Bennett…and more

From the team that gave us the unforgettable ‘Senna‘ comes a gripping and candid look at the remarkable and ultimately tragic life of British singer Amy Winehouse, featuring rarely seen home video as well as archive footage and paparazzi material, director Asif Kapadia takes us on a journey spanning the late star’s short but eventful life and illuminates everything that made this young North London girl so captivating.

We all remember the media frenzy that surrounded the latter part of Amy Winehouse’s life, but like he did with the late Ayrton Senna, director Kapadia manages to capture the essence of a complex personality intertwined with a prodigious talent, all the while crafting a compelling narrative and emotionally manipulating the audience, plus providing a window into the eternal conflict of “Art Vs. Commerce”.

 ‘Amy’ spans the colorful singer’s life from an upbringing that is blamed for her troublesome personality and vulnerability, to her refreshing early career as a Jazz singer with integrity all the way through her many personal issues with relationships and substance abuse, coinciding with her explosion of worldwide fame and everything that came with it.

 Asif Kapadia has proved to be a supremely effective “compilation” documentarian, taking existing footage and combining it with techniques like striking “drone” aerial shots and audio-only interviews spliced with intimate photographs and scrolling song lyrics, the result is unusually dynamic for a documentary and whatever your emotional response may be to the subject, it does make sure you respond.

 With unprecedented access to her life and death, ‘Amy’ paints a picture of a uniquely talented young lady who’s strong-willed personality, formed by her childhood, also resulted in a vulnerability and self-destructive nature that was too much to bear when combined with the unwanted pressures of celebrity and the ruthless nature of the modern media.

 Rather cleverly the audience is left to decide whether her death was avoidable if not for the demands of the music-industry-machine and actions of those around her, or whether this was just another of those inevitable tragedies with those who fly too close to the sun.

 The Bottom Line…

‘Amy’ is powerful thought & emotion provoking work, a candid look at the troubled and ultimately tragic life of a prodigious talent and reluctant global superstar, an expertly crafted documentary from a director who’s quickly becoming a pro at capturing the beauty within tragedy.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Senna (2010)

Multi award-wining Senna is a documentary from British Filmmaker Asif Kapadia chronicling the life and times of the late-great Brazilian Formula 1 racing legend and sport superstar Ayrton Senna.

Directed by Asif Kapadia starring Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Ron Dennis among others.

Comments

comments

Comments are closed.