Amy’ Documentary CONTEXT notes
‘Condensing countless hours of material into a powerful and coherent film that ends with such an emotive montage of photographs and music.’
Who was Amy Winehouse?
- London born(1983) jazz and pop singer
- Died (2011) of alcohol poisoning aged 27
- She had problems with bulimia and substance abuse since her teens
- Her career began in 2003 with her debut album Frank
- Her last and second album Back to Black won 5 Grammy awards
- Iconic beehive hair style, heavy makeup and tattoos gave her a strong visual identity
- Deeply expressive voice and song writing talent
- By 2007 she was established to perform at the Isle of White Festival
- Influenced a generation of other female singers like Adele and Lady GaGa
Production Contexts:
- Premiered in Cannes film festival in 2015
- Won a BAFTA and an Oscar in 2016
- Most successful British documentary at UK box office
- Budget of £3.4 million
- Made £22 million world wide
- Spin off sound track album was also sold
The Director: Asif Kapadia
- Directed fourth most successful documentary in UK box office ‘Senna’ in 2010
- ‘Senna’ attracted Universal music company
- Favoured archive footage and audio interviews
- Forged strong trusting relationships with nearly 100 people in Amy’s life
- Secured access to unpublished images, video and audio such as home movies, shot by friends, personal phone messages, unreleased tracks and recording sessions
The Style:
- No interest in classic form or observational film- avoided staged interviews
- Leaves it to the spectator to work out their own response and issues raised
- Universal music ‘A very complicated and tender movie which tackles lots of things about family and media, fame and addiction.’
- Kapadia ‘It was about Camden, London, music. It was about er but about all of us.’
- Helps audiences to form a more personal response because the subject feels more real
- Condenses hours of material with a montage of photographs and music
- Kapadia choses to remove himself from the filmmaking process- we don’t see his personality central to the works narration and marketing
- Kapadia’s personality is absent and is happy to let the film guide the spectator rather than his own opinion
The spectators response:
- Leave the spectator to form their own response
- Heavily criticised by Amy’s father (Mitch)- unsuccessfully demanded a re-edit
- Kapadia managed various perspectives- double checking statements that conflicted
- ‘Look at the twisted relationship between art and celebrity and the lethal spiral of addiction’
- ‘Overwhelmingly sad intimate study of a woman whose talent and charisma turned her into a target’
The role of the media:
- One of the main themes of the film- how the media pursued Amy to an early grave
- She swiftly became an icon and her image was heavily mediated
- The image created by various media representations was not in keeping with her actual personality
- Lily Alen ‘Yes, she does sometimes get out of her mind on drugs sometimes, but she is also a very clever, intelligent, witty, funny person who can hold it together.’
- Amy is seen as someone hounded both by the media and her inner demons
- Begins with her 14 year old self singing at her friend’s birthday party
- Ends in the filmed studio session duet with Tony Bennet- show-cases her talent and innocence. She appears as merely a starstruck fan in the presence of a singing legend.
Emma Coe Film Studies 