A Haunting Look At A Music Genius

By THORN DANIELS

Staff Writer

“Amy” is a haunting movie – with haunting being the only word to describe it. For a movie to have real power, it needs to maintain momentum, giving the audience something to think about even when the lights turn on and this film did just that.

“Amy” is a biographical documentary that follows late jazz star Amy Winehouse from her childhood in North London to international stardom, using a combination of home videos shot by Winehouse herself, along with videos from family members and the media.

The movie paints an unbiased picture of the late star with interviews of only her friends and family. There are no outside opinions, just the closest people to Winehouse, who talk about the one connection they all shared. Unlike this year’s other documentary, “Kurt Kobain’s: Montage of Heck,” this movie has a different feel to it. It is extremely fresh, due to the fact that it is about a star in the 21st century, where as in the other, mediums like social media did not exist.

It is not only the story of a troubled artist, but it is also a story of fame in the 21st century and the effects that constant harassment by the press and media in the outside world can have on someone.

The amazing thing about this movie is that it is not sugar coated when talking about her darkest moments. It goes from showing pictures of her drastically underweight because of her eating disorder to footage of her doing illicit drugs. These heartbreaking moments only feel more cutting and disturbing as they show this musical genius at work.

The film contrasts the public persona of the hardworking jazz singer from London to the real life persona of a deeply troubled girl, who just wants to be left alone doing what she loves most – creating music.

Winehouse was not respected or understood fully by her friends, family or fans. Many saw her as a joke, somebody to use as a cocaine punchline. These moments are shown on screen with the effect that it had taken on her.

By the end of the movie, the pits in the stomachs of the audience burns, and the footage of her body being carried out of her apartment rivals the most gruesome death scenes in current films.

“Amy” leaves the audience heartbroken. It is a haunting take on showing the enormous amount of talent one girl possesses, who had left this earth too early, leaving the world to wonder what she could of done if she lived.

Thorn Daniels

Christopher Thorn Daniels is a video editor who is is studying multimedia journalism from York, Pennsylvania. When not writing or shooting videos for iPulse, he can be found acting in the theater program at Lynn. His career aspiration is to one-day work for Images Games Network (IGN).

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