For her “unofficial” 2009 John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy, Sam Taylor-Johnson had so little music to work with that the opening chord of “Hard Day’s Night” just about needed to carry the entire movie. You would possibly assume that historical past would repeat for Back to Black, the brief however fast-lived story of Amy Winehouse, who rose to worldwide fame in her teenagers and by no means noticed 28, by no means thoughts 30. Surprisingly, the Winehouse property is all in, and though one would possibly argue that the singer’s trainwreck notoriety has been barely snow-washed to guard the residing, there’s nonetheless a surprisingly arduous edge right here, in a uncommon movie that provides rock ’n’ roll company to a girl for as soon as, like a reverse-angle Sid & Nancy.

In a means, any music biopic is off to a foul begin, since there’s at all times going to be the curse of symmetry: all the things should sq. with what we already know, and fill in some blanks for people who don’t. Back to Black isn’t any exception in that regard, nevertheless it’s comprehensible — how do you clarify a teenage London lady who’s impressed by Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Charles Bukowski, Lauryn Hill and Charlie Parker except she tells you? Refreshingly, nevertheless, it is freed from the curse of timestamping (there’s no “Glastonbury: 2007”), which can be a hurdle exterior the UK, the place even non-music followers noticed the entire tragedy writ not simply massive however performed out in excruciating actual time.

What not be instantly obvious is that Back to Black is the story as seen via the singer’s personal eyes, which is a really sensible means of dodging the bullets that accompany any try to inform her rise-and-fall story. Although there’s a LOT of foreshadowing in Matt Greenhalgh’s script (when her beloved Nan refuses a cigarette, precisely what’s coming), this isn’t a retread of Asif Kapadia’s virtually forensic documentary Amy, which turned the tables on the accepted narrative of Winehouse as keen tabloid fodder. Instead, it truly indulges a few of her self-sabotaging habits, which can appear reckless however doesn’t appear to have tarnished any of the male members of the 27 membership.

In that means, Back to Black isn’t the musical equal of Andrew Dominik’s Blonde, regardless of a surprisingly unobtrusive rating by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. This isn’t a case of being cautious what you would like for, or one more boring story about how the music industry chews up younger expertise and spits it out. When Simon Fuller’s 19 administration firm come calling, Winehouse shouldn’t be impressed. “I ain’t no f*cking Spice Girl,” she snarls, and the anger rings surprisingly true (though she did later signal with them).

It’s a measure of Winehouse’s accelerated life that it solely takes 20 minutes to take us from a household occasion to her debut album and the primary blush of fame. Even then, she is headstrong, stonewalling her administration’s insistence that she cease enjoying her guitar onstage (though she did later drop it altogether) and taking time out to dwell her life and discover new materials for songs from that lived expertise (though one among her largest hits was a canopy of The Zutons’ track “Valerie” in 2007). Interestingly, all these contradictions begin to add up, particularly when Winehouse goes from saying, “Class-A medication are for mugs,” to smoking crack cocaine, which is kind of radical in itself for a biopic but in addition indicators, in a really sincere means, that we’re by no means going to resolve this story.

The meat of the movie, however not the main focus, is Winehouse’s relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil, who will get off so very, very frivolously. Played by Jack O’Connell, “Blakey” is the catalyst that sparks the singer’s very public descent into drink and drug-addled infamy (“You’ve acquired an eye fixed for the dangerous boys,” says Nan, which is placing it mildly). But, once more, Taylor-Johnson performs an attention-grabbing sport with the reality right here; it’s all very effectively to surprise the place the adults have been — and her naïve father Mitch pays off a variety of dangerous press in that regard, because of a really touching efficiency by Eddie Marsan — however these choices have been her personal, and Taylor-Johnson makes {that a} tentpole, which — once more — runs counter to the sexist “candle within the wind” narrative that grows up round so-called “tough” feminine artists.

At the center of it’s relative newcomer Marisa Abela, who excels when she’s freed from delivering expositional biopic dialogue and simply being Amy Winehouse (a short, verité-style sequence on the streets of Manhattan is kind of breathtaking). In these moments, we get a way of Amy Winehouse on the rise, a superhero origins story through which sure components coalesce to provide the elegantly surly, coifed and tatted icon represented on the poster (though the movie hedges its bets as as to if the well-known beehive was impressed by The Shangri-Las’ Mary Weiss or The Ronettes’ Ronnie Spector).

Given the fabric, Back to Black bows out on an unexpectedly minor key, which might be higher than a queasy Queen of Hearts payoff. In that respect it’s an uncommon movie, in that it doesn’t fairly boil right down to anyone factor: it’s not about fame, it’s not about cash, it’s not (actually) about dependancy. It does, nevertheless, paint an unexpectedly advanced portrait of an artist who, over time, has largely been portrayed in broad and patronizing strokes, very similar to the tattoo of Betty Boop she wore on her again. The musical biopic format doesn’t fairly do it justice, however it might make one hell of an opera.

Title: Back To Black
Distributor: Focus Features
Release date: May 17, 2024
Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson
Screenwriter: Matt Greenhalgh
Cast: Marisa Abela, Jack O’Connell, Eddie Marsan, Lesley Manville
Rating: R
Running time: 2 hr 2 min