Amy
Director: Asif Kapadia
Talent: Amy Winehouse, Nick Shymanksy, Blake Fielder-Civil, Yasiin Bay
Release Date: 3rd July 2015
After the success of his last portrayal of a cultural icon, Senna, director Asif Kapadia turns his focus to musician Amy Winehouse. Over the course of two hours, Kapadia follows Winehouse’s ascent from a broken home in North London through success as a jazz singer to the pop stardom that was thrust upon her and the addiction, bulimia and depression that came with it, eventually consuming her life. Voiceovers from an assortment of friends, family and collaborators paired with archive footage and personal home videos create a vivid and richly detailed personal portrait. Kapadia’s reappropriation of paparazzi footage shows the appalling treatment that Winehouse endured at the height of her fame and the problematic way that the media painted her as a romanticised rock star despite her clearly suffering from addiction. More than that, however, Amy also captures what made Winehouse such an interesting musician, which makes the film all the more heartbreaking.
Words: Stephen McCabe
