Director: Asif Kapadia
Year Released: 2015
Rating: 2.0
Portrait of late British singer Amy Winehouse by Kapadia, who, along with his crew, manages to get a hold of some rare behind-the-scenes footage (shot by friends and acquaintances) and follows her (obviously tragic) trajectory to ruin: bad relationships, personal meltdowns and multiple addictions would ultimately destroy her at age 27 in 2011. Since it feels like just yesterday I was seeing headlines (and photos) of her physical (and mental) breakdown, there's something a bit rushed about this - it takes time for genuine truths to come out - and it also makes Winehouse seem like this pathetic victim (her father, justifiably or not, looks like a horrible figure ... as does Blake Fielder) which is kind of curious since the Winehouse I had heard about could be capable of behaving like a monster (this same directorial slant was taken in a recent documentary about Nina Simone). Places a huge part of the blame on the paparazzi - while relying on their images to tell the story - and has the same vampiric feel as Kapadia's Senna: two hours of watching someone tempt fate ... and ultimately meet it.
