The 23rd of July 2011, the day the “27 Club” gained its newest member, I still remember it like it was only yesterday. I think it’s fair to say that the majority of you reading this are familiar with Amy Winehouse and the work that she produced in her tragically short-lived career. Not only was she one the few pioneers for women in the 2000s music scene, but also for the resurgence of jazz through her eclectic sound. Amy Winehouse was a household name for me, becoming one of the many prominent female artists that echoed throughout my home, alongside Alison Kraus and Emmylou Harris just to name a few.
I initially caught wind of this movie thanks to the lovely corner of film Twitter. My timeline was saturated with the infamous leaked photos of the ongoing production which could be compared to an under-budget secondary school play. From the moment fans became aware of this biopic, everybody begged for it not to happen. I remember thinking to myself, why is this even happening? While the finished product has divided critics and fans, the one thing that people can agree on is that nobody asked for it.
With director Sam Taylor-Johnson already having experience under her belt with the 2009 John Lennon biopic “Nowhere Boy” I thought maybe fans were overreacting and being a bit too protective of the artist. With the biopic having a female director, I was interested to see how Taylor-Johnson portrayed one of the most iconic and successful female artists in the music industry. Unfortunately, my expectations fell flat as the film is essentially a surface-level love story and what can only be deemed as a disrespectful parody.
My first complaint with this biopic is its inconsistent pacing, a pattern that is emerging within this genre of filmmaking. It is simply impossible to accurately portray the reality and complexity of these groundbreaking artists in such a short run-time, which results in the mythologising of deceased artists. Take Bohemian Rhapsody for example, the catalyst for this musical biopic craze, although it won Academy awards it was a startling unrealistic portrayal and sensationalised the life of Freddie Mercury. A lot of the time, biopics feel flat and lifeless since they depend so much on the memories and nostalgia of these musical creatives to guarantee audiences and ticket sales.
While Taylor-Johnson showcases the influence and inspiration for the artist’s hits, she simplifies and essentially glosses over the creative process of the seven-time Grammy award-winning artist, depicting her picking up a guitar and magically plucking her lyrics from thin air. Instead, Taylor-Johnson sacrifices her creativity and these pivotal moments to ensure viewership by relying on the doomed love story that the artist had with Blake Fielder-Civil. While the toxic relationship heavily influenced some of Winehouse’s greatest work, for a musical biopic not to showcase the intricate artistic process is extremely disappointing.
In her role as Amy Winehouse, Marisa Abela’s efforts to impersonate the unique quirks and persona of Winehouse were evident and most certainly plausible but failed to truly embody the artist. Sam Taylor-Johnson’s decision to have Abela perform the iconic and irreplicable vocals of Winehouse is simply baffling to me, but to then scatter the actual vocals of the deceased artist during montage sequences is infuriating. This creative decision is laughable and emphasises the stark contrast of Abela’s sweet and falsetto vocals against Winehouse’s distinctive velvety alto sound. It also just shows the absolute laziness and disregard for accurately representing and, at the very least, respecting the legacy of Amy Winehouse
Taylor-Johnson’s attention to capturing Winehouse’s familial upbringing and influential relationships such as Cynthia Winehouse (Lesley Manville) is worthy of praise. The heartwarming relationship between Winehouse and her nan gives us insight into how the artist gained her legendary sound and fashion. Yet, it seems that some relationships were represented more accurately than others. It was no surprise to me when I discovered that Mitch Winehouse endorsed the film due to the surface-level and somewhat sympathetic portrayal of her father. If you are a fellow lover of Winehouse like myself, you will understand why I was pretty unhappy with this inaccurate depiction. The biopic fails to truthfully highlight her father’s exploitative and controlling nature and how he used his daughter’s stardom to gain fame of his own. Yet, if Taylor-Johnson had decided to take this leap of faith and display her father’s true character, I certainly would not be writing this article.
This is the second musical biopic to be released this year and I think I’ve concluded why this genre can be so hit or miss. Firstly, it is impossible to accurately capture the life of an artist in a feature-length run time, film is formatted to have a rise and a fall but reality is much more complex than that. As a result, what some viewers may deem as “key moments” will be sacrificed or cut, setting viewers up for disappointment. This then causes the knock-on effect of ineffective pacing, character development and inaccurate portrayals. To avoid disappointment, I highly suggest you watch the 2015 documentary by Asif Kapadia “Amy” which uses archival footage and personal testimonials that present an intimate and accurate portrayal of Winehouse’s life and career.
Finally, and most importantly, the audience’s memory, passion, and sentiment to the depicted figure varies in intensity. This wide spectrum means that some viewer’s expectations will be higher and ultimately more unachievable than others. I think it is this that ultimately sets biopics up for endless criticism as not only are they trying to appeal to the average ‘film-goer’ but they are desperately trying to appeal and please their target audience of the die-hard fans.
I admire and commend the cast for their dedication and efforts to highlight and respect the artist’s achievements and to bring her legacy alive once more. Unfortunately, Johnson’s biopic did not serve Amy Winehouse or her career justice and was unable to leave a lasting impact like the acclaimed artist achieved.
