Stylish Films: Back To Black

Amy Winehouse is a musical heroine of mine. Back to Black has been the soundtrack to many of my life events, and I feel lucky enough to have seen her perform live, in Manchester, when she was at the peak of her powers. Her tragic life, and its end is a well known story, and her death is one that continues to haunt, a real story of what ifs, and what else she could achieve. Now, Sam Taylor Johnson has turned Amy’s life into a film, Back to Black, a film which has been accused of everything, from whitewashing Amy’s life, playing down the role her husband played in her descent into drugs, and creating a fairy tale relationship with her controversial father Mitch. The reviews, frankly, haven’t been good, although the central performance from the astonishing Marisa Abela has been widely praised. But, on everything else, opinions have been diversive to say the least.

Personally, I really enjoyed the film. The bleakness of Amy’s short life, which cannot be ignored in a biopic, is still balanced out by sweet moments, like a trip to the zoo with Blake early in their relationship, and her relationship with her glamorous nan (a wonderful Lesley Manville). Much has been made about Marisa’s vocals not being strong enough, but I was impressed by most of the interpretations of the songs, and also with the other music that has been meshed into the story from Amy’s influences. Many of Amy’s iconic looks are perfectly recreated – from her Betsey Johnson wedding dress complete with its little anchor print, to her Grammy’s black dress, and we also see nan creating her beehive hairstyle before Amy leaves to record Back to Black in America.

The story of Amy’s many tattoos are also linked to her key life events in a clever way, and we do get an insight into her quickly her fame became so intense once Rehab was released as a single. What we don’t get is just how awful her descent was, even when she had split from Blake and got clean of drugs, the alcohol meant stumbling performances and cancelled concerts, we also don’t see the time she spent in Jamaica trying to get clean, a place where she seemed to find some peace, at least in the short run. I also wonder why her mother was almost written out of the story in which Mitch, the parent who left home when she was small, was so prominent, and so sympathetic.

Marisa Abela is a stunning Amy, every movement, every mannerism and every vulnerability on show. Jack O Connell is a sexy Blake who shows a cocky charm that entranced Amy from their very first meeting, and both Lesley Manville and Eddie Marson are great as nan and Mitch.

If you are a fan of Amy Winehouse, and love the music of both Back to Black and Frank, then I would definitely recommend that you go see this and make your own mind up.

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