Back To Black (15)

Marisa Abela is Amy Winehouse in a biographical drama directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, which charts the singer's turbulent life from the early 2000s including her glittering musical triumphs and the personal struggles that repeatedly made her front page fodder for tabloid newspapers. Hordes of paparazzi stalk her topsy-turvy courtship of Blake Fielder-Civil and she eventually agrees to attend rehab before a triumphant night at the 2008 Grammy Awards.

LondonNet Film Review

Back To Black (15) Film Review from LondonNet

Love 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 award-winning second LP Back To Black which lays bare the tumultuous relationship with her future husband, Blake Fielder-Civil. Winehouse’s unapologetically candid, confessional storytelling style paired with soulful vocals were irresistible. Back To Black remains the second best-selling album of the 21st century in the UK behind Adele’s 21…

Director Sam Taylor-Johnson and screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh, who first collaborated on Nowhere Boy, conduct their own love affair with Winehouse in a respectful and moving biopic that keeps us – infuriatingly – at arm’s length from the demons that ultimately granted the singer membership of the 27 club alongside Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain. At one point in Back To Black, Amy is asked why she lashes out and continually presses the self-destruct button. “I don’t know,” she responds.

Nor does Taylor-Johnson’s picture, which plays out scenes of alcohol abuse, violent jealousy, drug addiction and defiance with artful intoxication that feels at odds with the fiery, outspoken voice of a generation, who plainly tells her manager at the beginning of their professional 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 during a mutual flirtation with Jack O’Connell’s swaggering Fielder-Civil, who introduces her to 1960s group The Shangri-Las by lip-syncing to Leader Of The Pack in a pub. Abela performs her own vocals throughout, masterfully navigating the singer’s back catalogue. She’s note perfect and always on tune, reflecting a clinical, surface-level 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 topsy-turvy 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 heartbreaking cry from the heart of Asif Kapadia’s Oscar-winning 2015 documentary, Taylor-Johnson’s film is an assured and muted cover version.

– Jo Planter