Photo: Press
The much-anticipated documentary Amy, an archival footage-based insight into the life and struggles of the late Amy Winehouse, premiered in Cannes this week to critical acclaim.
Something of a dark shadow had preceded the film's first screening, after Winehouse's father Mitch strongly criticised it, telling director Asif Kaadia, "You should be ashamed of yourself". Many suspected it was because it cast him in an unflattering light - and, judging from the reviews, it seems like that probably is the case.
The reviews for Asif Kapadia's documentary (Kapadia also directed Senna, on the life and tragic death of racing driver Ayrton Senna) have been invariably overwhelmingly positive.
Read extracts from the biggest reviews below.
The Guardian: "[Amy] is stunningly moving and powerful: intimate, passionate, often shocking, and almost mesmerically absorbing."
The Independent: "If Winehouse had remained a jazz singer performing in small venues, her life might not have unravelled in the way that it did. Kapadia's film is steeped in regret and grief over what became of its subject and yet it never loses its sense of awe about what she achieved."
The Telegraph: "Kapadia’s film is many things: a Sherlockian reconstruction of Winehouse’s arcing path across the skies of superstardom, a commemoration of her colossal talent, and a moving tribute to a brilliant, witty, vivacious young woman gone far too soon."
The Hollywood Reporter: "Amy is an emotionally stirring and technically polished tribute, its sprawling mass of diverse source material elegantly cleaned up, color-corrected and shaped into a satisfying narrative. If Kapadia's film feels like an incomplete story, that is mainly because Winehouse's life was itself incomplete. Like Kurt Cobain, she died way too young to leave a full legacy, only an unfinished symphony of great music and a mountain of untapped potential."
Watch the trailer for Amy below
Variety: "Though the film features no editorial voice of its own, it collates the observations of variously involved parties — friends, lovers, bodyguards, record executives, producers Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson — to create the impression of a woman with numerous investors but no assertive support network, and an abundance of hangers-on keen to commodify her frailty."
The Wrap: "Amy is the cautionary tale of a talented singer who was done in by fame, by her own appetites and by almost everyone around her, and few people emerge from the film unscathed."
Amy will be released on UK cinemas on 3 July and will also be screened at Glastonbury Festival.
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