Thursday, July 23, 2015

Amy

I felt like an asshole watching Amy. The new documentary about doomed singer Amy Winehouse left me feeling disheartened, and sad, and cold. “It left me feeling cold.” That’s a line I see a lot in film criticism today. People often say it as if it’s a bad thing – “It left me feeling cold.” The problem with that line is that further explanation is rarely granted by the people who use it. After all, what’s wrong with feeling cold? Many of my favorite films leave me feeling cold. There’s nothing inherently “warm” to gain from Cries and Whispers. Or Shame. Or Deliverance. A documentary about someone as troubled as Amy Winehouse is not going to leave you feeling warm and fuzzy. Cold is to be expected here. But my time with Amy goes beyond cold. Watching the film, I felt like a participant in Winehouse’s death. I felt like I was watching someone die in slow motion, and that I was helping it happen.

The entirety of Asif Kapadia’s Amy is comprised of stock footage from previous sources. With the exception of several (very pretty) exterior drone shots to establish locations, every single frame of this film is unoriginal. There are no talking head interviews with Winehouse’s friends and loved ones. No celebrity endorsements. No testimonies from addiction experts explaining in layman’s terms what long term dependency to crack cocaine and alcohol does to the body. Many of those people do contribute harrowing voiceovers recorded solely for the film, but their faces are left unseen.
Instead, the footage in Amy has been collected from a variety of sources. At the film’s most humble, we get insight into Winehouse’s life through candid home videos. Singing happy birthday to a teenage friend (correction: other friends sing, Winehouse fucking wails – even at age 14, captured with the microphone from a crappy home camera, you can tell Winehouse had it), smoking weed before a gig, sleeping off a long night in the car. At the film’s most dangerous, we literally become the eye of the paparazzi who ceaselessly hounded Winehouse. We become one of the people who contributed to her instability, her panic, her demise. We’re right there on the dark streets of England with the rest of the camera-flashing bloodhounds. Watching as Winehouse stumbles through the streets, her face masked in smeared mascara, with her equally troubled husband, Blake Fielder, by her side, his face lined with fresh cuts and scratches.

Those are the highs and lows of the footage in Amy. Other, tamer material is taken from Winehouse’s appearances on late night talk shows, her stunned acceptance of the Grammy for Record of the Year, a stupid reality show that followed her father around St. Lucia, while Winehouse was trying to kick drugs. And so on. This choice, of not shooting any new material for the film, is a very bold, deliberate decision, and one worth commending. Because Winehouse’s brief life was so well documented, the amount of material must have been endless. What a task it would have been to track this footage down, then edit it into a cohesive film (editor Chris King deserves genuine praise here).
But the shots from the paparazzi’s point of view (and there are many), are the most disturbing sequences I’ve seen from any film so far this year. Maybe last year as well. It’s no secret that Winehouse couldn’t handle the ecstatic fame her music and persona afforded her. One of the last things we hear Winehouse say in Amy is that if she could give it all back, if she could go back to being a normal person, willing and able to walk down the street in peace, then she would. Think about that. Think about the millions of dollars that means Winehouse has to give up. Think about the returned Grammys, the refunded fame, the replaced legacy. All gone, just so she could regain peace of mind.

Technically, Amy is very well put together. There isn’t a flaw to be found in the broad construction of the film, nor from the sound bites Kapadia includes from his subjects. The film is a devastating portrait of a tortured soul, and will likely be remembered come awards time. But I couldn’t fully get on board with it. During those paparazzi shots, we, the audience, are the camera, which means the rest of the cameras are pointed in the same direction as ours, at Winehouse. The flashes of the cameras are so persistent, it’s actually difficult to get a clear view of Winehouse’s face. The flashes are faster than a strobe light, and they never stop. Watching the film, it hit me: if it’s hard for me to see Winehouse’s face in this footage, imagine how hard it was for her to see anything at all. B-

18 comments:

  1. Great, insightful review Alex. Amy Winehouse was such a gifted talent, with so much soul and charisma, and to be honest, being such a fan of her music, I'm a bit terrified to see this film. From your review and many others, it sounds like such a haunting and sad film, and I just know that by the end, I'll be a wreck. And I love what you said about films being cold, that's so very true.

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    1. Thanks so much for this comment, Aditya. It is definitely a very sad film. Many cries could be heard in my nearly sold out showing. A rough ride. Too rough for me to fully enjoy.

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  2. Lovely review. You echoed the biggest complaint I've read about this doc. It seems almost too intrusive to be watching someone's downfall like this. I'm sort of afraid to see it. Winehouse was so talented and so unique, yet I don't know if I want to watch something like this.

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    1. Thanks so much. The pap footage is definitely too intrusive. It's just too much. Feels completely unnecessary to me, given what happened to poor Amy.

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  3. I do want to see this no matter how rough this is. I'm not really a fan of Winehouse's music but her death is definitely tragic.

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    1. It is a well made film, no question. I just took issue with some of the footage is all. Eager to hear your thoughts on it.

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  4. Hi Aletx-- Lovely review Alex. I've been an Amy fan for years. I was very saddened by her sudden loss. She was an incredible singer and songwriter. It's so devastating what happened to her. This documentary definitely sounds different. It doesn't sound like any documentary I've ever seen before. I could see why it left you with a cold feeling.

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    1. Thanks Mariah. Given that you're such a fan of her work, I'm really curious to hear what you think of the film. Let me know when you see it!

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  5. Great review! After seeing this film, I was definitely put into a minor state of depression...haven't felt that way from a film in quite some time.

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    1. Thanks! It was a tough one, wasn't it? Very intimate and real. Almost too much so.

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  6. This is one of my most anticipated (as in, one that I really feel the NEED to see), and your review is every reason I need to see this. It sounds like it captures something that, while VERY hard to stomach/watch, is important. GREAT review.

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    1. Thanks buddy! It really does feel like you're watching her die in slow motion. What a tortured soul.

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  7. Beautiful review, very insightful. I'm really looking forward to this.

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    1. Thanks man. It's a hell of a rough ride, this film.

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  8. Outstanding review, very heartfelt. I had a sense of where you were going with it from the first paragraph and it took hold of me and I was right there with you watching the film as it unfolded, one painful shot after another.
    In all honesty I did not follow her career all that closely, and I only gained appreciation for her unquestionable talent after her passing. This is perhaps the reason why I am very interested in this film, so that I can fill the voids, no matter how sad or tragic they may be. Doing so because I admire artistry and raw talent, and because it saddens me to see it go to waste.
    I feel there is always a fine line between exploitation and simple curiosity, as well as there is a nebulous gap that exists between adoration and admiration. Generally, I believe our collective curiosity with higher intelligence and artistry is a very human trait. A sort of follow the leader complex. We need beacons of lights to see in the dark. So, I understand the culture of fame and celebrity. However, it is right for us to expect a serious documentary to be above it all and, sadly, your review suggests that this piece does not do enough to set itself apart from what tabloids or variety shows might put together for a TV special.
    Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thanks so much for this comment. My thoughts on the film are summed up perfection in your second to last sentence. Some scenes veered too closely to tabloid sensationalism, and they weakened the film. But I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on the film if you do see it.

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  9. Wonderful review! It's difficult to watch this tragedy unfold, but this film - currently my #2 or #3 of the year - still haunts me. It's one of the most powerful ones I've seen in 2015, even if it's depressing. It left me cold, too, but it's stayed with me. What a talent we lost. Her live radio version of "Valerie" for The DL still gets me misty-eyed.

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    1. Thanks man! Yeah, this was a really tough ride. Very well made, I just couldn't get on board with the inclusion of some of the footage. Fine film though.

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