A musical talent who was doomed by drugs.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Asif Kapadia’s documentary “Amy” made its debut at Cannes Film Festival on Saturday night and the documentary about the late jazz and pop artist Amy Winehouse appears to be making waves with critics and attendees alike.
Winehouse was one of the more tragic victims of the insatiable gossip industrial complex, and according to Vanity Fair, Kapadia’s documentary shows just what a genuine talent this woman was, and how quickly she was doomed.
The feature uses a mix of private video footage, feeds from public appearances, and audio interviews with family and friends to paint a tragic picture of a tortured genius who resorted to massive amounts of alcohol, crack cocaine, and heroin in an effort to cull her demons.
“‘Amy,’ especially during its first hour, partially redresses this imbalance by reiterating how much importance Winehouse invested in musical craftsmanship,” wrote the Daily Beast. “In fact, Kapadia subtly makes the point that Winehouse’s artistic strengths flourished because of her fondness for all aspects of African-American musical culture, including hip-hop and rap as well as the jazz cadences of Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holliday.”
Aside from providing new insights into Winehouse’s short but stellar career and her hazy final days, Kapadia’s documentary underscores her relationship with her father, Mitchell Winehouse, who appears to have ruthlessly exploited his daughter’s fame by formulating countless parasitic schemes to expand his personal wealth.
“Amy” implies “that Winehouse was stung by her father’s absentee status during her childhood and the documentary depicts him as an ambiguous figure who reveled in his daughter’s celebrity status while encouraging her to accept gigs that were detrimental to her mental and physical health.
While the documentary debuted at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival for a limited audience, it’s slated for wide release in the United Kingdom on July 3.
“Amy” is Kapadia’s second feature length documentary after “Senna” was released in 2010, which depicts the life and death of Brazilian motor-racing champion, Ayrton Senna. Born in Hackney, London in 1972, Kapadia studied filmmaking at the Royal College of Art where he first gained recognition for his short “The Sheep Thief” (1997), which was shot in Rajasthan, India, according to IMDb.
His first feature film, “The Warrior” (2001), was shot in the deserts of Rajasthan and the snowcaps of the Himalayas. The Guardian called Kapadia’s piece “epic” and “stunning” before it was nominated for three BAFTA awards, winning two for Outstanding British Film of the Year and The Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a Director in their First Feature.