4 years after her death, Asif Kapadia released the documentary centered around the life of Amy Winehouse. Through the lens we see her rise to success, her love life and her battle with both eating disorders and drinking/drugs that inevitably led to her death.
I've loved Amy since she first came out. I loved her whole style and personality not to mention her astonishing voice. Over the years though I definitely became more obsessed with her, as many people suffering with eating disorders do. I related to her so much because of her whole pin-up rock-girl aura but mainly because she was from England and had the body that most girls with eating disorders want to imitate. That is why this film was much more than just a biopic of her life.
I feel like the film was more about blaming something/someone for her death rather than showing her life and all the amazing things she's done as well as the bad sides of her life. I feel like they were always looking for someone/something to blame.
It was amazing to see an insight into her life before she became famous and when she went away. I learnt a lot of things, such as that at the end of her life she was actually trying to re-invent herself as a jazz singer rather than the kind of popular culture icon she was. That was also something that kind of made you feel even worse for her death because it seemed as though she was trying to right the wrongs but it was too late.
I really enjoyed how Kapadia produced the documentary and the way he managed to put all the pieces together to make something coherent and new. Theres a lot about Amy out there already but Kapadia managed to create something refreshing and from a different, somewhat more personal, perspective.
I wouldn't say this was a biopic at all though, it didn't show her successes not in the way that it could've/should've. Not like a Marilyn Monroe biopic shows all the amazins/controversial things shes done. I feel like this was made to cause drama and controversy rather than to respect and celebrate Amy.
It was a very good documentary, the shots and the music overlay worked well. Although there were scenes of London as it is now, very modern and crisp and I didn't feel like they matched the vibe at all and it seemed very out of place.
Throughout the film I just kept thinking, this isn't what she would've wanted. She was a very private person, so I don't think she wanted this kind of invasion into her life. Maybe she signed something when she was alive that said these things were ok or maybe she would've loved it anyway, who knows. It all just felt a bit intrusive and didn't show her in the best light.
If you're a fan of Amy, then you should check this documentary out but maybe don't get your hopes up and know that it's very objective and some may say bias.
