| Amy | |
|---|---|
| File:Amy Movie Poster.jpg Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Asif Kapadia |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | Amy Winehouse |
| Cinematography | Matt Curtis |
| Edited by | Chris King |
| Music by |
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Production companies |
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| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 128 minutes[1] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Amy is a 2015 British documentary film that depicts the life and death of British singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse, directed by Asif Kapadia. The film is produced by Universal Music, Playmaker Films & Krishwerkz Entertainment and distributed by the Altitude Film Distribution. The film will be released in the United Kingdom on 3 July 2015 and worldwide on 10 July.
On 8 February 2015, a trailer debuted at the pre-Grammy event in the build-up to the 2015 Grammy Awards and it was announced that a documentary entitled Amy would be released in cinemas later in the Summer of 2015, according to David Joseph, CEO of Universal Music UK. He further stated: "About two years ago we decided to make a movie about her — her career and her life. It's a very complicated and tender movie. It tackles lots of things about family and media, fame, addiction, but most importantly, it captures the very heart of what she was about, which is an amazing person and a true musical genius."[2] The film was selected to be screened in the Midnight Screenings section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival[3] and will get its UK premiere in June at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.[4]
The narrative is focused on the life of singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, who died on 23 July 2011 at the age of 27, from alcohol intoxication at her home in Camden, North London. The film shows the songwriter's cut-short life in her music career, as well as her relationships and downfall with drug and alcohol addiction. It features Winehouse from her early years until her death. The film also features fifteen voices from Winehouse's family and friends to tell the story and show unseen footage and unheard tracks Winehouse had recorded the previous years before she died.[5]
The film is due to be released in the United Kingdom on 3 July 2015[6] and worldwide on 10 July.[7] The film had its world premiere at the midnight screenings section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival on 16 May 2015.[3] Celebrities such as HAIM, Leona Lewis and Emeli Sande were in attendance and gathered for the event, as well as the film crew. The movie has been reviewed as "a tragic masterpiece", "brilliant", "unmissable" and "heartbreaking".[8] The film is due to get its UK premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June.[4]
The cast in the film, will be shown in archive footage throughout the documentary.
Amy is set to be released theatrically in the United Kingdom on 3 July 2015 and in the United States a week later on 10 July.
On 8 February 2015, a teaser trailer debuted at the pre-Grammy event in the build-up up the 2015 Grammy Awards. A teaser theatrical poster for the documentary film was released on 18 March 2015 on Twitter and a teaser trailer was released on 2 April 2015, with receiving over one million views after 36 hours on YouTube. Footage from the teaser trailer shows Winehouse as a young woman at the beginning of her music career answering questions about how she sees herself as an artist.
In May 2015, the first teaser clip from the film was released. The short clip features a candid moment of Winehouse messing around with the camera and singing, while Nick Schmanksy, a member of her management team, recalls the beginning of her songwriting process and the video concludes with a track Winehouse had recorded, that was arranged to be on her 2006 album Back To Black.[9] On 18 May 2015, the official theatrical poster was released on its Twitter page.[10] On 20 May 2015, the first official full-length trailer was released by Altitude Film Distribution.[11]
The film received critical acclaim from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 100% rating based on 17 reviews.[12] Metacritic reports an 85 out of 100 rating based on 10 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[13]
The film has been heavily criticized by Winehouse's family. They have distanced themselves from the documentary, saying that the film is "misleading" and "contains some basic untruths", according to the family spokesman.[14] On 7 May, Winehouse's father Mitch appeared on This Morning and described the film as "preposterous". He further stated:
"The film is representing me in a not very good way. There is no balance, there's nothing about the foundation. It's portaying me and Amy in not a very good light."[15]
However, he added that his daughter's fans should go and see the film for the videos, as he described some of the unseen footage as "superb".[16]
