Review of Amy (2015) by John L — 10 Jul 2015

Made up almost entirely of pre-existing footage, this is a film that proves better than most than not only does the image tell the story, but that the real meanings can be hidden in plain sight. As fascinating as it is to watch young(er) Amy give a pitch perfect rendition of Back to Black sneaking a look at her notes on the day she wrote it, it's also heartbreaking to see the constant rolled eyes and exasperated sighs of those around her as they failed to put together the story most of us now know bits of and the film attempts to lay down definitively.

But even as it overwhelms with detail, the overall result isn't factual, it's emotional. Amy Winehouse was a woman in some ways hounded to her death while the media made jokes for a bemused public about how sick she was.

This isn't a film that asks you to put yourself in the place of the guilty, it's a film that asks you to consider that, if you're over fifteen and live in a western country, you probably are guilty.

But it does offer enough in return for your attention that it feels more like a catharsis than a penance.