"Amy". Must See Film For So Many Reasons

I drug pulled my wife out to catch the opening of Amy because of
an NPR radio interview with the director and Amy's original manager that was almost as riveting as the actual documentary.  It's been two decades since I smoked a fag (whatsup North London) or paid full price for a film and didn't feel somewhat sick.  This film I must see again, and I would pay double the cost.  "Amy" left me with a combined feeling of appreciation for an artist that I had haphazardly disregarded in the past, and sadness that I've been on the outside for so long.  When I go back to see it tomorrow, it will be a large acceptance of my Amy ignorance and her depth as a songstress, which makes a cursory view insufficient.

If you think she was just a run of the mill North London Jewish girl who grew up loving and mimicking Tony Bennett and the greats (sorry Gaga), it's time to think again.

Near the close of this documentary, even Tony Bennett declares that Winehouse deserves to be remembered on the same level as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, a compliment I  agree with and never heard Bennett aim at Lady Gaga, someone who Winehouse is often compared to. As my wife and I reluctantly exited that freezing cold theater- frozen and enthralled all at once- she didn't hesitate to rank Winehouse's song writing ability and singing skill above the legendary Whitney Houston, who was an excellent singer but did not write or play music like Amy taught herself to do.  I was hesitant to declare it first because it felt like black people blasphemy to say, but I certainly had the same thought long before my wife's words gave me the freedom to agree.

For those of us who had no real clue, Amy Winehouse was one of the most powerful singer songwriter's that most of the world never knew. Thanks to pop culture, some people already think they understand who she was and how she impacted music, but until now, no one has delivered that message to us commoners. If the Whitney Houston comparison isn't blasphemous enough, this film felt like finding a hidden book of the Bible to my senses: a book that only North London had in full possession before today.  My wife expressed her enjoyment for being drug to the film by saying; "Thanks for that.  I feel different now".

Ditto dear. Ditto. 

Whatever Amy Winehouse was. North London understood like we do now. Thanks for that North London. The world will soon know too. as this film's reviews will likely move it onto more screens than just the limited off-beaten theater's of documentary films

The director of Amy, Asif Kapadia, does an important thing to include Winehouse's lyrics on screen along with certain songs.  The impact leaves the viewer traveling through the twisted worlds of a skilled poet whose effortless singing ability get lost in this film from your amazement at her writing skill. Before now, it was always the other way around when an uneducated person like me listened to Winehouse. This film made Amy an inspiration to my own writing for the clean honesty of her words.  Her writing was concise and complete. Pure and pointed in purpose; backed by that blessed beyond measure voice, a voice that would someday be her demise.  In the documentary and near the time of her actual death (July 23, 2011), Winehouse wishes she could give up the gift to sing for a chance to walk down the street again.

Rolling Stone Cover

She Always had those eyes.

Amy Winehouse was a special plant that flowered and withered before we took a fair look, running away in laughter at the liquor laden lady we lamented. When this documentary shows that memorable picture of Amy Winehouse on the cover of The Rolling Stone magazine, it no longer looks like the same person we made fun of back then, but a strange flower that we had never seen before.

Always!

This film accomplishes that and more, helping to show how our memories of her were crafted during the depth of her depravity, and her failed attempt to get away from it all as she kept being pulled "Back to Black", the name of her Grammy winning album, which included the famous song "Rehab". Both titles are terribly revealing of the space she was in while writing the album that blew up her career and her life in some ways. At the time of her death, Winehouse was fighting to move towards the kind of music that she loved the most instead of the catchy pop album that she is still famous for to this day.






"Amy" is beyond a must-see documentary, it is a must see insight into a person that we all (social media and the public that feeds it) contributed to destroy, and a loss that hurt the world more than Amy hurt herself.  No one will leave this film and feel happy about the day they joined in laughing at Amy Winehouse for the mistakes she made in front of the camera.  More than that, this film leaves you deeply sad about the songs she didn't get to make, and we didn't get to enjoy.  This film is aptly called Amy from the main character of the documentary, but it should be subtitled "Don't Judge The Book".

Because of Amy, I'm gonna clean up my writing for poetic delivery- and then I'm downloading every Winehouse tune I can find until I feel like a North Londoner.