Whenever I hear about the release of a new music biopic I watch them with caution and I was especially wary when it came to a portrayal of enigmatic, Camden born, Amy Winehouse. Amy was completely unique in her style, music and stage presence. When she died in 2011 the world was rocked by the tragic conclusion of her battle with addiction in her death at just 27. Amy, though, is immortalised through her music in ‘Frank’ and ‘Back to Black’ her wildly popular studio albums. Sam Taylor-Johnson’s ‘Back to Black’ follows Amy from 19, when she was starting out in the industry, until just before she passed. The film focuses on the success of her two albums, her family, her tempestuous relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil and her struggle with addiction.
Upon the release of the trailer of ‘Back to Black’ there was a social media frenzy about the casting of Amy. Influencers were clipping parts of the trailer and suggesting that Marisa Abela was not the right fit for the role in both appearance and voice. There were comments that singers Lady Gaga or Raye would have better fitted the role. I wanted to go into the film hopeful and not too influenced by the public’s perception based on a trailer, however I do understand that people are passionate about preserving Amy’s memory and doing justice to her as an artist.
I think often the issue with unsuccessful music biopics is that the actor, in trying to become the artist, fails to understand that you can never fully replicate someone else. The actors who are aware of their limitations but want to emulate the spirit or understand the person behind the fame are the ones who speak to people. I think Marisa was an incredible Amy because she captured her humanity. Marisa spoke about wanting to make sure she was the best person for the role and in an interview with This Morning she said “I wanted to find Amy, the girl, the person, you can’t really play an icon, you have to play a human being”. This for me exemplified why I loved the film. It captured Amy’s Camden spirit, her humour and her playful side though the film explored her addiction it didn’t define her completely. I think what was the most heartbreaking aspect of the film was Amy’s capacity for love.
Amy’s biggest addiction was love. Amy fell wholeheartedly, and the film explores her relationship and heartbreak with Blake and how this translated into her music. Marisa in the same interview describes “her capacity to turn those experiences and her relationships[...] into the art that we now all get to enjoy.” There is a quote in the film that says “I write songs because I’ve got to make something good out of something bad.” The film works in my opinion because it is driven by the music, and it is the soundtrack to the events in her life. For those viewers who are unfamiliar with Amy’s work, the film explains how Amy lived her music and made poetry from the darkest parts of her life.
The film shows a real humanity in every single character which plays even more into the tragedy of Amy’s death. Often in discussions about Amy people like to place blame whether that be on her father Mitch or Blake but the film shows the real villain is addiction. The film shows the audience that Amy’s love was the music, but she couldn’t handle the fame and what came with it. The film’s most tragic part is that Amy wanted an authentic relationship and she believed she could have that with Blake and most of all that she wanted to be a mother.
If I had to criticise one aspect of the film it would be that on one occasion I thought that Amy’s actual voice would have been preferable. Marisa was incredible in her North London accent, her movement and her likeness to Amy’s singing voice was great. However, in the instance of singing the entirety of Rehab, as there is audio footage of her at the Grammys, Amy's voice could have elevated the magnetism of that famous performance. Sam Taylor-Johnson, in an interview, does defend her decision to have Marisa sing throughout the film suggesting that this allows her to “emotionally tell the story through her songs”. This meant that she could perform with anger, attitude or sadness to emphasise her emotional state at the time of the music’s release. This helped to take the audience on a journey of her progression as an artist. I do understand this, as I loved how the music is never separate from Amy’s life because she did write so candidly about everything she felt.
Taylor-Johnson also says that she didn’t want an impersonation of Amy “I was looking for someone who could embody and summon the soul of Amy”. I believe Marisa did just that, capturing the essence of Amy from the outspoken 19 year old who signed her first record deal with a song like ‘Stronger than me’ to the broken woman who wrote ‘Love is a Losing Game’. This film did something incredibly special in capturing Amy’s unique spirit and respectfully presenting the devastating effects of addiction.