Voice of the BEEHIVE
AMY WINEHOUSE BIOPIC IS RESPECTFUL AND MOVING BUT FAILS TO TACKLE THE DEMONS THAT DROVE THE TRAGIC SINGER
BACK TO BLACK (15) ★★★✩✩ REVIEWS BY DAMON SMITH
was a losing game for Amy Winehouse.
The heartache that dogged the north London-born singer’s tragically brief life was a constant source of tabloid fascination and fuelled the creative fire of her songwriting, most notably on the awardwinning second LP Back To Black which lays bare the relationship with her future husband, Blake Fielder-Civil.
Director Sam Taylor-Johnson and screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh, who first collaborated on John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy, have created a respectful and moving film that keeps us – infuriatingly – at arm’s length from the demons that ultimately engulfed the chanteuse.
At one point in Back To Black, Amy is asked why she continually presses the selfdestruct button. “I don’t know,” she responds.
Nor does Taylor-Johnson’s picture, which plays out scenes of alcohol abuse, jealousy, drug addiction and defiance with artful intoxication that feels at odds with the fiery, outspoken voice of a generation, who tells her manager at the beginning of their relationship that she ain’t no Spice Girl.
Marisa Abela’s full-blooded portrayal of Winehouse is sensational. She captures the hot-headedness and painful vulnerability of a Jewish girl who yearned to be a mother, and was frequently her own worst enemy.
“I’m not a feminist. I like boys too much,” she smiles as she flirts with Jack O’Connell’s swaggering Fielder-Civil, who introduces her to 1960s group The Shangri-Las by lipsyncing to Leader Of The Pack in a pub.
Abela performs her own vocals throughLOVE out, masterfully navigating the singer’s back catalogue.
She’s note perfect, reflecting a clinical perfection that leaves us wanting more than Taylor-Johnson’s film is willing to give.
Greenhalgh’s script covers Winehouse’s fortunes from 2002, when she signs with Island Records to the delight of manager Nick Shymansky (Sam Buchanan), father Mitch (Eddie Marsan) and beloved grandmother Cynthia (Lesley Manville), who she anoints her “icon”.
Hordes of paparazzi stalk her courtship of Fielder-Civil and she eventually agrees to attend rehab before a triumphant night at the 2008 Grammy Awards.
Back To Black demonises the photographers who hounded Winehouse and barely acknowledges any of her partners besides Fielder-Civil.
Key moments such as the couple’s impulsive Miami wedding and a chaotic main-stage performance at Glastonbury in 2008 are present and correct.
Compared to the cry from the heart of Asif Kapadia’s Oscar-winning 2015 documentary, Taylor-Johnson’s film is an assured but muted cover version.
■ In cinemas Friday