Asif Kapadia’s devastating and moving "Amy" has been one of the year’s top documentary contenders ever since its breakout premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Earning universal acclaim across the board, "Amy" earns its critical reception by sensitively exploring the life and death of songstress Amy Winehouse and the substance addictions and media circus that cut her life tragically short.
In some ways, "Amy" marks a natural evolution in Kapadia’s career. His last film, the deeply personal "Senna," took the tragic life of Formula One racer Ayrton Senna and turned it into a vibrant doc-biopic, using tragedy to unearth the true greatness of its subject. Here, Kapadia does the same with Winehouse’s rise and downfall, eschewing traditional doc tropes like talking heads to keep the focus tight and centered on the many gifts the singer left and continues to give to the music world.
While the singer is most well known for her tortured personal life and tabloid troubles, "Amy" finds Kapadia powerfully righting this wrong by returning the focus on Amy to her rebellious spirit and triumphant music. Using never-before-seen archival footage and voiceover interviews with her closest friends and collaborators, "Amy" gets to the heart and soul of its subject in ways you’ll never forget. Just try watching a scorching studio session where the singer lays down the vocals on "Back to Black" and not get chills up your spine. Outside of her highly personal music, "Amy" is about as close as one will ever get to discovering the real Winehouse in all her triumphs and failures.
Below, Kapadia joins Indiewire and Time Warner Cable's Awards Season Spotlight to discuss what it was like getting to know Amy posthumously and why he is first and foremost a storyteller, among other topics.
"Amy" is available now with Time Warner Cable Movies On Demand.
Photo credit: Daniel Bergeron