Before watching Amy, I had never really looked into her life that much. Amy Winehouse passed away when I was 15, before I was interested in how her life really played out. I just simply believed that she was a brilliant singer and songwriter.
The film, directed by Asif Kapadia, is a complete exhibition of her life; through the pain, love, music, suffering and passion that glowed out of her in every moment. The film is created as a timeline, from a confident 14 year old girl to a suffering 27 year old woman, the journey Amy Winehouse took through fame and personal problems is evident throughout. Home videos, paparazzi clips and interviews all show the true life of Amy and how, despite all of the media-fuelled rumours, she fought her way through fame and kept grounded to what she truly believed in; music and love.
They say love conquers all. In Amy, we see the full scale of how relationships can have a huge affect on how someone behaves, how you will do anything for those you love.
For Amy, music was definitely her first love. The footage of her singing at birthday parties, a starry-eyed adolescent who dreamt of writing and creating her own music, accelerated when she met her first manager, Nick Shymansky. He saw the passion for music Amy had and soon made her dream a reality with her debut album, Frank.
The people interviewed for the film, including Nick, not only show a love for Amy's music and aspirations but they truly love and know her as a person and this really comes across in the film. The words they speak of her give a insight into the loving, funny, kind hearted girl that the public should have really known and not asked any more from.
The downwards spiral of Amy's life is emotionally shown and we see the pieces that were all part of the pain she endured throughout her life. The divorce between her parents, the rocky relationship she had with Blake Fielder-Civil, her introduction to drugs, the reliance on alcohol and her fight with bulimia. At the time, she was primarily shown as a party girl who was dependant on drink and drugs, and I really wish I had never believed everything I read and was told back then. Amy's fight with bulimia was never spoken about, the difficulties she had when it came to being bombarded with paparazzi and doing everything to keep her boyfriend happy was never documented in a way that Amy showed.
The footage from around the time Back To Black was released was unbelievably moving. The heartache after divorce, the pain Amy felt for herself, the struggle through rehab and becoming sober again. She looks lost, vulnerable.
Amy comes to an end with uplifting video from Abbey Road Studios, of herself and Tony Bennett recording Body and Soul, just 3 months from her death. Nervous and quiet, Amy is in awe of her idol and it definitely shows the true passion Amy Winehouse had for music. She wants to get everything right, to not ruin her chances and Bennett is incredibly understanding and calm.
However incredibly sad, the film also leaves you wanting more. Wanting to know if she would have been able to control herself, the media and her relationships. Wanting to know if she'd have ever produced another fantastic album, or sang live with her idols who had her fall in love with jazz.
I believe that watching the film has really made me think about not only the life Amy Winehouse lived, but the lives of celebrities altogether. The media's intrusion, the pressure of the public and how people are always suffering, whether it is documented or not.
Amy has put a lot of things into perspective and shows that in the end, love really is a losing game.
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