AMY Review

In many ways, I'm the exact type of audience member director Asif Kapadia (Senna) had in mind as he constructed his latest documentary. I was never a huge fan of Winehouse when her meteoric rise hit the U.S. in 2006, but it was more out of a lack of interest in the personal drama swirling around her than any disdain for the music she was creating. By the time of her death in 2011 the drama, drug abuse and drinking came to overshadow anything the singer was doing or had done in the world of music and thus I didn't really care to take any interest. Of course, shutting out the external influences and strictly listening to her voice the talent is undeniable. In Kapadia's new film, we are given an all-access pass, warts and all, to the singer's trials and tribulations and the eventual downward spiral that became so out of control, the crash was inevitable. What makes this documentary cater to my frame of mind is that it is an attempt at restoration in many ways. Sure, you probably know this famous person because of their off-stage antics and problems, but there is more to it than that the film tells us and thus a reason to listen to what the film is trying to say in its plight to restore the proper legacy that Winehouse's talent deserves, if not her career. The opening footage we see of Winehouse comes from a time far removed from that of where she would go. At the tender age of fifteen or sixteen (which we would later learn was already plagued by the beginnings of bulimia) she sings happy birthday to a friend and you can already hear the flourishes of her voice and the jazz-like influences that are present. The singing of a song as broad as "Happy Birthday" also shows in simplistic form how impressive her voice was while playing to the "sameness" in relation to audience members lives. It's a surface-deep introduction that we realize doesn't cut to the core of who this young lady is, but is just enough to hint there is a lot more and no doubt something very interesting going on beneath the surface. In short, it hooks us.