'Back to Black' Plays a Recognizable Beat
The biopic. A category in filmmaking that's tough to tackle. It can be either gripping or another predictable Dewey Cox Story. In this case, we get something that's in between. Back to Black is a tribute to Amy Winehouse that is intriguing but not enthralling. Earlier this year, we got Bob Marley: One love, an abysmal biopic with horrendous pacing issues. Unlike that film, I'm more invested in Amy Winehouse, played beautifully by Marisa Abela. The notes Abela produces are amazing.
There are actors who play real-life singers who mostly lip-sync the artist's songs. Then there are the ones who do the singing themselves. I'd be surprised to find out if Marisa Abela didn't sing any of her tunes. There are moments when the sound is silent. All we can hear is Ms. Winehouse singing a song she's written while playing a few chords on her guitar. It's minimalistic enough that you can tell that it's Maria Abela singing and not a recording of Amy Winehouse playing as an obvious dub. The results are impressive.
Despite that impressiveness, something seems to be missing in this film. It feels almost like an unfinished thought. The film is striving at a theme, but what the theme is isn't clear. I think it's don't fall in love with the wrong people. Or it's allow yourself to grow up before finding your true companion. Your heart may lie in your work, but your judgment of people is flawed. Amy Winehouse was just a kid when she died at twenty-seven. She wasn't mature enough to invest in the right man. At least, that's how this film portrays her.
Whinehouse is a woman who has almost too much love in her soul. She sticks close to her family, even in the middle of all her fame. Her mother, Janis (Juliet Cowan) is a muse to Amy. She supports her career all the way along with whatever decision she makes. Her father, Mitch (Eddie Marsan), is a hard-nosed cab driver. His marriage with Janis didn't work out, and the man still makes a living by doing one of the most grueling, mundane, low-salary jobs one can have despite his daughter being famous. Nevertheless, he's a supportive, loving father.
At the film's turning point, Amy meets up with Blake (Jack O'Connell). Blake is far from a model citizen. He's a drug addict and a cheater. Yet despite how bad he is, Amy can't help but fall in love with him. Amy's unrelenting passion for Blake is what ultimately leads to her downfall. Starting only with weed, Amy soon experiments with other drugs.
The movie depicts a young, naive girl who doesn't know how to handle her emotions. So, she drowns and smokes them away as much as she can. The film doesn't play as a substance abuse flick. It has that element, but it's not the central dramatic driving force. The movie is more about Amy Winehouse's poor taste in men, which is pretty shallow when trying to make a three-dimensional character.
The naive girl falls for the bad boy/guy angle can only go so far until it becomes redundant. Perhaps in Amy Winehouse's life, that is how things went down. But cinematically, it comes across as a story about young, stupid love. It paints the portrait of someone who's intellectual but emotionally a mess. I'm not sure that's what screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh or director Sam Taylor-Johnson was aiming for. Yet that's what I got out of it. Another story about a celebrity who doesn't know how to handle their fame. So they self-destruct.
Back to Black isn't a rags-to-riches story as much as it's a rag to more rags story. Although Amy Winehouse is rich and famous, we only see her reside in middle-class homes, such as her childhood house or other friends' residencies. It's clear Amy doesn't care so much about the money as she does about keeping her loved ones close. Amy Winehouse is one of those people who is not aiming to become famous but does acquire fame anyway. Not everyone can handle fame, so Amy falls for Blake, using him as an escape from the media. Yet his disruptive nature makes him the perfect target for bad press. At one point in the film, Blake tells Amy that they're too toxic for one another, but Amy won't accept that fact. That's where the film loses me a bit. Was Amy Winehouse this immature and codependent in real life?
For all its flaws, Back to Black does have its highlights. It shows the soul in Amy Winehouse's work. Each life event inspires another song, which, to be honest, is a bit cliche but still effective. Amy Winehouse was a beautiful soul who left us a bit too early. If only she had more chances to grow, she could have further flourished in her career while improving her personal life.
The filmmakers come to this film with good intentions. It's just we've all seen the story about the artist who gets tied up in booze and drugs before. It's nothing different from a standard biopic other than the film focuses on one vital part of the protagonist's life rather than their entire existence. It's a convention in biopics as of recently that has grown popular. It's a way to remember someone's life rather than their death. The only problem is every biopic is doing it now. From Bob Marley to Princess Diana, we focus on one specific area that defines who our character is. Amy Winehouse is a girl who stays close to her loved ones and writes incredible music. Unfortunately, she sticks too close to the wrong man who ruins her life. Back to Black is a cautionary tale about foolish love. It's neither great nor terrible. Just another perfectly mediocre biopic that's saved by an incredible performance from Marisa Abela.
