Movie seen: Amy
19/7/2015
Sad but TrueI can't remember the last time I pre-booked for a movie, it must be decades ago. However, as soon as this one was brought to my attention, I booked on-line. This woman's music needs no praise from me, listen for yourself. I discovered her late, maybe 2007, first Back To Black (2006), then delving back for Frank (2003) because I was so impressed. I couldn't believe I was enjoying music of her style, but it was just so good, and her lyrics astounded me. |
I went to this movie with some trepidation. I was well aware that her later life was not pretty, having already read a biography, the e-book Amy Winehouse 1983-2011 The Biography, by Chas Newkey-Burden.
I was quite prepared to cry, and I did, not at the end, but at the early sequences, intimate scenes where the knowledge of her fate made her early promise seem so poignant.
I found myself squirming as the inevitable end approached, I felt uncomfortable, as though participating in the voyeuristic harassment which hastened her death. Scenes were included which could only have been taken by peers of the very journalists shown scrambling for their own shots. I say this to describe my own feelings; not as a criticism of the filmmaker for using the shots. I think it was his intent to elicit such feelings.
Despite the painful sequences included, I was still grateful to have been granted some insight into the happier times of her life as well. It was very well done as a work of assemblage, showing sequences collected from historical sources, linked by contemporary aerial shots of the various locales. There was spoken commentary from contemporaries, with no editorial voice, but I think there were times the viewer could tell what conclusions they were invited to draw.
Not a movie for the faint-hearted, but also a touching treatment of a talented career that promised so much.
I was quite prepared to cry, and I did, not at the end, but at the early sequences, intimate scenes where the knowledge of her fate made her early promise seem so poignant.
I found myself squirming as the inevitable end approached, I felt uncomfortable, as though participating in the voyeuristic harassment which hastened her death. Scenes were included which could only have been taken by peers of the very journalists shown scrambling for their own shots. I say this to describe my own feelings; not as a criticism of the filmmaker for using the shots. I think it was his intent to elicit such feelings.
Despite the painful sequences included, I was still grateful to have been granted some insight into the happier times of her life as well. It was very well done as a work of assemblage, showing sequences collected from historical sources, linked by contemporary aerial shots of the various locales. There was spoken commentary from contemporaries, with no editorial voice, but I think there were times the viewer could tell what conclusions they were invited to draw.
Not a movie for the faint-hearted, but also a touching treatment of a talented career that promised so much.
Here is an intimate performance from 2004, when she was just 20.
A bit hesitant at the start, but she soon warms up.
It seemed so unusual to see someone of her generation covering an old jazz standard.
"There Is No Greater Love" is a 1936 jazz standard composed by Isham Jones, with lyrics by Marty Symes.
A bit hesitant at the start, but she soon warms up.
It seemed so unusual to see someone of her generation covering an old jazz standard.
"There Is No Greater Love" is a 1936 jazz standard composed by Isham Jones, with lyrics by Marty Symes.
Update 17/08/15 : A few days ago on my YouTube account I noticed a couple of old and incomplete playlists, one for each of her two albums "Frank" & "Back To Black". I found I could now locate all tracks and and completed them, as below.
Just listening to a few seconds of some of these while compiling the lists has resulted in them appearing as "Woke up in my head" earworms all over again!
Just listening to a few seconds of some of these while compiling the lists has resulted in them appearing as "Woke up in my head" earworms all over again!