AMY: Haunting, But Nothing We Didn’t Know Before

Asif Kapadia isn’t the documentary filmmaker of our times, but he is one of the most timely. In the digital age where all information is online, he manages to make movies comprised almost entirely of footage that can be found on YouTube and somehow turn them into major events in documentary cinema. Since his (ever so slightly overrated) 2011 effort Senna, his style as a documentarian has stubbornly refused to change, yet the way he manipulates archive footage to create something new and horrifying is unparalleled, even if it frequently favours emotional manipulation over creating a deeper look at the self-destructive life of subject Amy Winehouse. The result is a haunting piece of cinema, yet one that often feels like it is focusing more on the cruel ironies of Amy’s life (an example being a pre-fame Winehouse claiming “I don’t think I will ever be famous- I’d go mad!”) instead of developing a deeper perspective of it.

The Demons of Amy’s Past

Kapadia has recorded several new interviews for the picture, which all just play out as voices over archive footage. It creates a disorienting, borderline metaphysical effect, that is hard to fully comprehend. At times it feels like all the interviewees represent the demons in Amy’s life and are merely narrating her descent, forever encased in her tragic life, if only in celluloid. The biggest demons of all are her ex-husband Blake Fielder and her father Mitch Winehouse, neither of whom come out of the film looking like they are going to win husband or father of the year awards anytime soon.

Unsurprisingly, Mitch Winehouse has already publicly criticised the film for “manipulating the truth”, which is true in certain aspects. However, if what the film tells us is true, trying to cash in on your daughter’s media notoriety by starring in a cheap reality TV show about your relationship with her (especially when she claims in earlier archive interviews that you weren’t a big presence in her childhood) is pretty shameful, especially when she clearly needs privacy and no more cameras thrown in her face.

All of Winehouse’s lyrics are shown as diary entries on the screen, giving the effect that she is narrating her own troubled life. For example, the lyric in Winehouse’s mega-hit single Rehab “I haven’t got the time and my daddy thinks I’m fine” is proved to be entirely accurate, as he is shown to be forcing her to go on tour, even though she is clearly under the manipulation of addiction. The problem with revelations like this is that the film isn’t being objective in the slightest; my feelings towards Mitch Winehouse are generated entirely from the film portraying him as an awful figure, with only anecdotal evidence to back it up. The fact that it will provoke an intense emotional reaction plays to both Kapadia’s credit and discredit as a filmmaker: he can get audiences invested in the story, but he has to sacrifice objectivity, the vital element of documentary filmmaking, to do so.

Denies Amy a right to privacy from beyond the grave… to criticise the lack of privacy she was given

The film is successful in highlighting the hypocrisy of the media, yet comes across as hypocritical itself. It repeatedly condemns, either via interviews or harrowing montages of paparazzi footage, the intrusive nature of the media, who are harassing a deeply troubled individual for no other reason than because she is a celebrity. Yet to highlight this hypocrisy it has to show this deeply impersonal paparazzi footage, with so many camera lights flashing at once you could be mistaking for thinking an alien spaceship was landing, not just a woman trying to walk home (the warning at the start of the film warns of flashing lights and boy, does it deliver).

The film seems to criticise the media for how much they harassed Amy, yet due to no new footage being filmed, the only way this could be shown is through this archive footage. Even though she is no longer with us, surely airing this footage in public again just adds to the infringement that was imposed on her personal life? This only stops being problematic in the final moments of the film, as the paparazzi outside her house just after her death shout “rest in peace, Amy!” They spent most of their day jobs ignoring her basic human right to privacy, only feeling remorse now that she won’t be around to take photos of. It is the most quietly horrifying moment in a movie defined by them.

The movie never comes across as a hagiography of Winehouse, yet at times suggests she should get the special treatment reserved for deities. A montage of comedians, most notably Frankie Boyle, telling jokes about Winehouse’s appearance is used to further highlight the negative media treatment of her, yet comes across more like the director judging comedians from an ill-thought through moral high ground. After all, comedians derive most of their material from the news, so of course she would be the subject of a few jokes – if she wasn’t on the news agenda, there would be no problem. However, to suggest than a single person is exempt from being made jokes of is borderline offensive; any comedian will tell you there is no topic deemed “off limits”, with a joke only being rendered offensive if it isn’t well written enough. To suggest Winehouse should get special treatment by comedians, regardless of the mental state she is in, is a gross misunderstanding of how comedy writers work.

Conclusion

I do believe that Amy is an impressive piece of work, largely due to the editing, which manages to make even the most mundane bits of archive footage utterly compelling and emotionally captivating. Yet the criticisms (as minor as they be) keep rattling around my head long after watching the film, more so than any of the positives that I have barely mentioned. It is impossible to get a deeper insight into somebody when her songs were written like diary entries and the media, as manipulative as their reporting may be, followed her every step of the way through success – there is very little here we didn’t already know, or at the very least couldn’t have worked out for ourselves. The revelations here aren’t earth shattering, but the emotional depth awarded to them makes Amy a worthwhile piece of cinema and definitely one of the least feel-good movie going experiences you’ll have this year.

Have you seen Amy? What are your favourite musician documentaries?

Amy is out now in the UK and US. All international release dates can be found here.

(top image source: Altitude Film Distribution)