Amy is a documentary about the life of the late Amy Winehouse, directed by Asif Kapadia (the BAFTA award winning filmmaker behind the incredible Senna). What Kapadia and the creators of Amy do, much like they did in Senna, is let the subject tell their own story through archive footage rather than using talking head interviews that we see in traditional documentary filmmaking.

The use of this archive footage, plus Winehouse’s own lyrics scrawling across the screen, make this a very personal story. The lyrics act as a guide through the chronology of her story; giving the audience an insight into the emotions the singer was experiencing, allowing us to feel them too and become entwined with her story.

As with Senna, we know the end of this tragic tale, but that doesn’t mean the film is any less gripping. It is a harrowing story and watching it unfold from the footage of the young (and seemingly much happier) Winehouse to the lost, drug dependent celebrity is all the more powerful.

The paparazzi have a reputation for their intrusive and often malignant behavior, which is proven in this movie. Over time the camera becomes Winehouse enemy, and Kapadia doesn’t flinch from the truth, presenting the story from the perspective of those closest to Winehouse in contrast this with the numerous lurid tabloid headlines she attracted. Needless to say, the media do not come off well here. Wherever she goes, be it a night club or just out to the shops to buy some cigarettes, they are there waiting to flash a million lightbulbs in her face; they hounded Amy Winehouse to the bitter end.

The use of paparazzi footage coveys the frenzy that surrounded Winehouse throughout her fame and perhaps is partly to blame for her state of mind. She was shoved into the limelight of celebrity quite reluctantly it seems: snippets of her own voiceover say that she wanted to be a jazz singer, play in small clubs and be appreciated as such. She didn’t necessarily want to be as famous as she became.

Winehouse’s childhood friends provide the most interesting insight into how she was feeling and what was happening behind the scenes. Their stories are moving and you can feel their helplessness as they tried to save the singer from her demons.

Amy is brilliantly edited, moving seamlessly through the months and years of her life; we watch as everything slowly unravels and draws to the tearful conclusion. All I can say is: bring tissues.

Niki Alexandrou
@nikialexandrou