“Amy” – Textual analysis
“Amy” is a documentary film released earlier in the month of
November. The film followed the life of Amy Winehouse, who was a very
successful and young singer who, although famous for her singing talent, was
shrouded with allegations, drug abuse and hounding of the press on a daily
basis who had destroyed her credibility. She died at the age of 27, and was
remembered for her voice. The documentary aimed to reveal the real Amy
Winehouse, which was backed up by her friends, family and record label company.
In light of this, the film had hard hitting footage of the
singer outside of the fame, spotlight and the flash photography. I felt that
this was hard hitting as we (the audience) saw how Amy had changed from being a
young girl with a talent, to a singer known for drugs and alcoholism later on
in her life. The use of personal footage was useful for the fact that it shows
how normal Amy was before she founded fortune and other “evil” temptations. One
piece of the film which had a huge impact for me was when the footage of the
artists last stage appearance of her drunk and not performing. This showed the
change of her caused by many factors which the director, Asif Kapadia outlined
through the media archived footage and by the key interviewees such as Blake
Fielder (Boyfriend and Husband), Mitch Winehouse (Father), and many of Amy’s
friends. This is also hard hitting as she did not make a fake persona, like
many artists do, but showed the truth on the effects of fame.
The impact of the film was huge. In a cinema, which was
filled with other people and their reaction is much better than watching this
film on a video site such as YouTube. This is due to the fact that within a
cinema, we are exposed to different kinds of atmospheres as many people who are
within a cinema gives an honest reaction. This is different from the internet
as people may lie within the comments section and an in-depth debate on the
internet may not be as kind, but online reviews also have positive reactions. One
example of a review with an honest truth is from The Guardian. “Towards the end
of her short life, Amy Winehouse’s last single, Love is a Losing Game, sounded
like a private lament…Asif Kapadia’s documentary about the singer’s life and
death, the song seems to bounce back on its singer, turning the lament into an
obituary.”
This is a good way to sum up how the film is perceived to the audience. The
film to me was a way to explore how those who were close to Amy was effected by
the person she became after the glitz, but there is a debate whether one
contributor was made to look bad by the director.
The response of Amy’s father, Mitch Winehouse caused anger
to the director, as he claims that he was made to look bad. He told The
Guardian “It was horrible” He told the journalist of the conversation between
Mitch and the film crew, especially the director, “I told them that they
were a disgrace. I said: ‘You should be ashamed of yourselves. You had the
opportunity to make a wonderful film and you’ve made this.” In
defence to the director, it was Mitch himself who showed his true colours. One
particular scene was in which he brought a whole camera crew to where Amy was
on a relaxing holiday was seen to me as an intrusion of privacy. It was a way
to make money on Amy’s success. However in defence to Mitch, the director did
select specific interviews in which some of Amy’s friends did blame him for not
being there for her when she was younger, which would have been out of his
control. I feel that documentary makers do have responsibilities especially
when it comes to a film on a deceased person who was famous. One of which is
that the makers should obtain the truth from the contributors. This was achieved
but in the case of Mitch, the truth can hurt, but this made this film different
from the biased types of documentaries.
Looking in to more in- depth to the film, the lyrics of her songs
were used, not only as an emotional trigger, but also used to tell the audience
of her life. The Director had conducted an interview with The Independent and
explained that “Once you read the lyrics, you understand that all the answers
are there. There is nothing in the film that isn’t already in the lyrics.” Most of her lyrics did
express the way she felt about her life, but also how she felt about people. One
of her songs which backs this is “Back to black”. Here is an example of the
lyrics –
He left no time to regret
Kept his lips wet
With his same old safe bet
Me and my head high
And my tears dry
Get on without my guy
This were the lyrics which related to the break up between Amy and Blake. This was featured within the film which I felt, had a powerful meaning on how she felt about her new found life, as if it was a cry for helped. Nobody had replied to her because of the way she had changed, and by the end, it was too late.
In relation to this, the star theory, developed by Richard Dyer can be relevant when looking at Amy. She was seen as a star who's image had tarnished her reputation in her later career, which she was known as because of the media and people who had used her image for jokes and to mock her career. She has followed some of Dyers "common values" of being a star :
·
A disregard for social values, relating to drugs, sex
and polite behaviour
·
Conspicuous consumption of sex, drugs and material
goods
·
Success against the odds
· Originality
·
Creativity/ Talent and
·
Youthfulness
She showed many of these traits, but I feel that originality and the youthfulness which made her unique to her mass audience. This stayed with her up until her death because she wrote many of her songs and had the willingness to show the world how she felt through music. Although those points of Dyers makes Amy a star, however she does not conform to the classification of a star because she did not have a fake persona and she was not expected by her audience to do anything expected.
