Review of Amy (2015) by Foxgrove — 11 Jul 2015

A mesmerising and insightful documentary depicting the meteoric rise, fall and untimely death of troubled but talented Amy Winehouse. This amazingly compiled documentary which utilises a significant amount of unique and personal footage, starts at the top and goes on and up supplying in minute detail information about the tragic star that was hither to unknown to me. Emerging somewhat damaged from a dysfunctional working class background and optimistically declaring that she was ‘not a messed up person, Amy’s vulnerability, shyness and penchant for cutting remarks tell an altogether different story.

The influences of both her husband and father, Blake Fielder and Mitch Winehouse respectively, are here clearly depicted as self-serving negative forces in her life. The former introduced her to the hard drugs that would assist her in pushing the self-destruct button, whilst the former was more concerned about his life style than the well- being of his troubled daughter.

Unusually this is not a documentary given over to talking heads. Instead we just hear the voices over filmed footage with titles informing us as to who is speaking and where the action is taking place. It makes for a refreshing change. Also, the brilliant decision to have the lyrics to her songs actually appear on screen as she is singing them adds volumes to our understanding of the singer, her demons and how she coped with them, albeit tragically.

Whilst the many unsavoury aspects of her life forces one to acknowledge that she could never be held up as a positive role model, her voice and talent were truly great. Her death at 27 was, under the circumstances, almost inevitable.