Back to Black

Back to Black

The extraordinary story of Amy Winehouse’s early rise to fame from her early days in Camden through the making of her groundbreaking album, Back to Black that catapulted Winehouse to global fame. Told through Amy’s eyes and inspired by her deeply personal lyrics, the film explores and embraces the many layers of the iconic artist and the tumultuous love story at the center of one of the most legendary albums of all time.

  • Released:
  • Runtime: 122 minutes
  • Genre: Drama, Music
  • Stars: Marisa Abela, Lesley Manville, Eddie Marsan, Jack O'Connell, Juliet Cowan, Bronson Webb, Ansu Kabia, Harley Bird, Michael S. Siegel, Matilda Thorpe, Jeff Tunke, Ryan O'Doherty, Izaak Cainer, Tracey Lushington, Sam Buchanan
  • Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson
 Comments
  • masonfisk - 29 June 2024
    WHAT COULD'VE BEEN...!
    Currently playing in cinemas, we have a slice in the life of the late, great singer Amy Winehouse. Winehouse, as essayed in a volcanic performance by Marisa Abela (who I hope gets Oscar kudos next year) as she took her act from neighborhood dives to getting her music down by a record label where she found an audience where she essentially carried on the crooner/troubadour tradition of some her heroes like jazz singers of the past (something we see infused into her being by her nan, Oscar nominee Lesley Manville & her dad, Eddie Marsan) & female artists of the 60's to create her own musical styling & persona (the bouffant hairstyle, the outre tats) which garnered acclaim & awards recognition but her apparent Achilles heel rears its head in the form of the love of her life, played by Jack O'Connell, who's the kind of man she's been looking for even though his open penchant for drug use becomes an albatross for both of them which becomes a private & public problem when friends & family & more importantly the press get a hold of their story & the diminishing dividends of their union. Fearing that this film would not hold a candle to the recent doc on the singer, I kind of passed this one up in my mind but the moment Abela warbles her first note (singing I suspect that Abela did herself) I was hooked & coming from director Sam-Taylor Johnson who also made the excellent Nowhere Boy (about John Lennon & Paul McCartney's friendship leading up to the creation of the Beatles) I should never have had any doubts since the film is engrossing even though we know the tragic outcome of Winehouse & what could've been is foremost in the audience's mind.
  • Amine-Afkir-1995 - 10 June 2024
    Fifty Shades of Black?
    I went to the cinema expecting a serious work that does Amy Winehouse and her tumultuous and artistic life justice. However, this movie did not feel like that. Instead, it was full of forced intimate scenes, forced music and forced drama, which felt amateurish at times.

    The movie has its ups, such as not exaggerating Winehouse's life events just for the sake of movie entertainment, and the cinematography was commendable. Additionally, some of the songs from the Back to Black album were cinematically well-presented.

    However, would I watch it again? No. Should you go watch it? Sure, but be aware that this is no memorable work of art. Keep your expectations low, as this is just what you would expect from the director behind Fifty Shades of Grey; a poor attempt at making a memorable musical biopic.
  • PotassiumMan - 2 June 2024
    An homage to a beloved star we lost too soon
    This biopic of Amy Winehouse explores her challenging private life as her career as a jazz singer and music star took off. We get to see how Amy drew inspiration from early 1960s music that her grandmother loved dearly. We also see how moody and uncompromising she was even in the early days with her record label and her promoters. Those of us who remember Amy Winehouse won't be surprised by much of this film.

    The tragedy of how Amy slipped more and more into her alcohol and drug addiction over time as well as her failing to overcome her demons is captured quite well by this film. We know what's coming and yet we cannot look away. The illuminating aspect of this part of the story was how those closest to her completely failed to help guide her to a safer and better path.

    The selection and timing of Amy's songs along the story line are adding to the depth of this tragic story of a beloved musician who seemed so strong at times and then incredibly fragile at others.

    While Marisa Abela is quite good in portraying Amy in all her unwieldiness, it's the supporting cast that occasionally comes out just as strong. Eddie Marsan is well-deployed as Amy's long-suffering and over-indulgent father. Jack O'Connell, who has not had a compelling or memorable role since "Money Monster", comes back from the dead to give an animated and charismatic performance as Amy's only-ever husband. Superb performances elevate this biopic to a truly poignant portrayal of a promising life that will never be forgotten.

    An insight and angle of Amy Winehouse's life, recommended to everyone who likes to get a glimpse of this artist's struggled life.
  • dweston-38669 - 30 May 2024
    Well acted and moving.
    In my review of Asif Kapadia's 2015 documentary 'Amy', I mentioned that he missed a trick by not either showing or mentioning Amy Winehouse's disastrous appearance on BBCs Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Here was first hand the descent she was going through on public TV-slurring her words, swearing, spitting, being derogatory to other guests and what is even more telling was how the host Simon Amstell actually said to Ms Winehouse that she is an addict and has a problem-too her face.

    This was brave and daring of him to do as it showed compassion and a level of care that one often doesn't see on TV especially a music quiz show with lots of ego, piss taking etc.

    This new film by Sam Taylor Wood, gives us a glimpse into that account of her downward spiral (even though it doesn't feature that important appearance ) with an outstanding lead performance by Marisa Abela -looking and sounding like Ms Winehouse (she even did her own vocals) Able support by the ever reliable Eddie Marsan and Jack O'Connell as her father and husband.

    The film doesn't follow the conventional music biopic setup-we first see Amy as a young teenager with a magnetic voice and then a blink of an eye she already has her first album out (Frank, I brought it when it came out -still good) It follows more her relationships and from these it ends up moving and likely to please her fanbase.