Arriving soon after its premiere at Cannes – where it gained overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics – an all-new trailer for Asif Kapadia’s Amy has premiered online, promising a heart-wrenching look into the tragic life of the late British songstress, Amy Winehouse.
Splicing archived footage together with family interviews, the film charts the meteoric rise of the young jazz musician, who broke into the big time with the critically-acclaimed Back to Black in 2006. From that point on, Winehouse was no stranger to media attention, collecting numerous awards for her singing ability while also finding her name become synonymous with tabloids.
As the director behind Senna, Asif Kapadia knows a thing or two about how to spin out the story of a talented individual, and though Amy will no doubt tug on the heartstrings given Winehouse’s untimely death on July 23, 2011, there’s room here for the filmmaker to employ a deft touch. Perhaps more so than most, Winehouse’s tragic story represents the troubles associated with living life under the microscope, and we’re hoping that the director delivers a very human story in a few months’ time.
Kapadia’s portrayal of Winehouse’s stunted musical career will fittingly make its debut in the United Kingdom on July 3, with a planned North America release of Amy scheduled for later in the summer.
Featuring extensive unseen archive footage and previously unheard tracks, this strikingly modern, moving and vital film shines a light on the world we live in, in a way that very few can.
A once-in-a-generation talent, Amy Winehouse was a musician that captured the world’s attention. A pure jazz artist in the most authentic sense – she wrote and sung from the heart using her musical gifts to analyse her own problems. The combination of her raw honesty and supreme talent resulted in some of the most unique and adored songs of the modern era. Her huge success, however, resulted in relentless and invasive media attention which coupled with Amy’s troubled relationships and precarious lifestyle saw her life tragically begin to unravel.
