Back to Black Review

Amy Winehouse joins the likes of Johnny Cash, Freddie Mercury, Aretha Franklin, and Whitney Houston as a member of the musical biopic club. Back to Black looks at her artistic process, troubled relationship, and addiction issues.

Amy Winehouse (Marisa Abela) is an emerging artist who is signed up by 19 Management and Island Records. When her first album, Frank, underperforms on the charts she decides to take a break, lives her life in Camden, and starts a relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil (Jack O’Connell). This break allows Amy to create her most famous album while becoming addicted to drink and drugs.

Amy Winehouse’s story was a tragic one. Her talents as a singer-songwriter were undeniable and Back to Black was a fantastic album, but she was also famous for her problem with drinks and drugs and died at only 27. Winehouse was regular tabloid fodder, at a time when the tabloids were at their most vicious. It’s a story that fits the musical biopic template. But there were two issues: the first being seen as being made too soon since Winehouse died in 2011, and the biopic came out after the excellent documentary Amy. The thesis of that documentary was Amy was used by the men in her life.

Back to Black was directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and written by Matt Greenhalgh. They had critical success with Nowhere Boy, a biopic about John Lennon’s relationships with his mother and his aunt. Greenhalgh also had success writing the screenplay for Control, a touching biopic about Ian Curtis, the lead singer of Joy Division. However, Taylor-Johnson’s career suffered a critical knock with her second film, Fifty Shades of Grey, even though she had little creative control. Back to Black had the involvement of the Winehouse Estate, including Amy’s father.

Anyone who watched Amy knows that Mitch Winehouse was an unpleasant man who took advantage of his daughter’s talent and fame. The biopic felt like Mitch was using it to repair his image and Eddie Marsan had to defend his portrayal of the cabby. Back to Black aimed to make out he was a loving and caring father who struggled to help her through her addictions and erratic behaviour. An example of this was during the first intervention to get Amy to go to rehab. The film shows Amy was able to manipulate Mitch to prevent her from getting the help she needed. This played out differently in Amy. I spoke with my sister-in-law and an old work colleague about Back to Black and even though they hadn’t seen Amy they thought the biopic was easy on Mitch.

Fielder-Civil was also let off lightly. In the film he was portrayed as a cheeky Jack-the-Lad type who was charming and able to sweet-talk Amy. He was shown to partake in cocaine use, which Amy calls her partner out on. This film ignored the fact that Fielder-Civil was the person who introduced Amy to heroin. Amy came off the worst in the film since she was volatile and a heavy drinker.  She was the one who got jealous and got into fights. The filmmakers were trying to replicate Sid and Nancy since that film was also about a toxic celebrity relationship where both partners enable the other’s worst habits and vices.

Due to the film’s focus on the relationship, it resulted in the film skipping over some major details and required expository dialogue. An early example of this was when Amy was meeting executives they talked about the critical and awards success Frank received, information that she would have known. Another example of the film breaking the ‘show don’t tell’ rule was when Fielder-Civil broke up with Amy and stated one of the reasons why was her self-harming. The film also skipped a major detail in Amy’s musical journey by not showing her working relationship with Mark Ronson. All he got was a quick name-drop.

Back to Black did have a top-tier cast, featuring the likes of Eddie Marsan, Jack O’Connell, and Lesley Manville and Marisa Abela was the lynchpin. Abela is best known for her role in the BBC/HBO drama Industry and Back to Black gave Ablea her first leading role in a film. Abela was able to play Amy as a fun-loving girl, a nervous performer, and a troubled woman due to her addictions. Abela was like Naomi Ackie in I Wanna Dance with Somebody by giving a performance that elevated an average film. Abela learned how to sing like Amy Winehouse and she made a good tribute act.

The heart of the film was Amy’s relationship with her nan, Cynthia (Manville). They had a close bond and Cynthia acted as one of Amy’s biggest musical influences. Amy loved Cynthia’s ‘50s and ‘60s style led to Amy Winehouse styling her hair into her iconic beehive. It hit hard when there was a tragedy.

Back to Black fails in comparison to the 2015 documentary, being an overly compromised and cherry-picked biopic. It’s best enjoyed for the music and the lead performance, not as a deep dive into Amy Winehouse’s life.