Back to Black – movie review

British singer Amy Winehouse found success through her songs and won numerous Grammy Awards in her brief career. She was a talented musician who succumbed to her demons and vices, and suffered from depression, addiction and even mental illness. She died from alcohol poisoning in 2011 at the height of her success. She was just 27. She’s one of that select group of famous musicians who died at that age; a list that includes the late Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain.

Back To Black, which takes its name from her multi-Grammy winning 2006 album, joins those other biopics of wonderfully talented by self-destructive female singers – La Vie En Rose, which starred Marion Cotillard in her Oscar winning performance as French singer Edith Piaf; Judy, which featured Renee Zellweger in her Oscar winning tour de force as Judy Garland; both Lady Sings The Blues (for which Diana Ross was nominated for an Oscar) and 2021’s The United States vs Billie Holiday starring Andra Day, told to story of the influential jazz singer Billie Holiday; the recent Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody; and even the fictitious The Rose, which gave us Bette Midler as a thinly disguised Janis Joplin. These talented but self-destructive characters though seem to be a gift for actresses – not only do they give them juicy characters to play, with plenty of scope to explore a range of emotions and depth, but they also seem to be awards magnets.

This biopic about Amy Winehouse (played here by Marisa Abela) comes from director Sam Taylor-Johnson (Fifty Shades of Grey). The film is written by Taylor-Johnson and frequent collaborator Matt Greenhaigh, whose previous films have included Control, a biopic about Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, and the John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy, and it explores Amy Winehouse’s brief life, her ride to the top of a cutthroat industry and her untimely death. Her story was detailed in Asif Kapadia’s superb 2015 documentary, simply entitled Amy, which provided us with plenty of insight into her tragic short life. That film also tackled issues of fame, celebrity, addiction, the paparazzi and the media. This well-meaning but fairly conventional biopic pales in comparison with that documentary.

The film explores her early success in signing to Simon Fuller’s 19 Management and securing a record deal. At a pub she meets the charming Blake Fiedler-Civil (Jack O’Connell) and a volatile romance ensues. Blake became the great love of her life and the muse and inspiration behind many of her hit songs. But he was also an addict, and he slowly drew her into a downward spiral as he enabled her addictions. Theirs was a toxic co-dependent relationship often played out in tabloid headlines. Her success as a chart-topping singer as well as her messy private life led to her being relentlessly pursued by the paparazzi, which further added to the pressures she felt.

Taylor-Johnson and Greenhaigh have tried to tell the film largely from Winehouse’s perspective, drawing upon her lyrics for inspiration to shape her story. Amy explains the philosophy behind her music in these terms: “I just want people to hear my voice and forget their troubles for just five minutes.” But Taylor-Johnson imbues the material with a bleak tone, especially as we know the outcome.

In her biggest role to date Abela (from TV series Industry) channels Amy’s prickly personality and she anchors the film, bringing Winehouse to life with all her flaws. She does all her own singing here and captures Winehouse’s distinctive vocal style. A charismatic and charming O’Connell (Unbroken) brings a brash and confident quality to his performance as her unreliable boyfriend. Lesley Manville is also excellent and touching as Amy’s supportive Nana Cynthia.

Eddie Marsan, who normally plays sleazy characters, is more sympathetic here as Amy’s supportive father Mitch. However, as Mitch Winehouse is also credited as one of the many producers, it’s possible that his involvement that in Amy’s deep unhappiness and addictions has been largely sanitised.

Greg King

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