Amy: The girl who just wanted to sing

A very sensitive and respectful movie directed by Asif Kapadia (Senna), you are immediately drawn into her world, a little girl who did not finish school but spoke about Monk and Vaughn as her heroes. There are no talking heads, just voice overs from the people that knew her or worked with her, culled from over 100 interviews, hours of intimate footage and beautiful music.    

“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”.

As Amy becomes famous and her life unravels publicly, constantly  breaking down into a heartbreaking mess, you are confronted to what it must have felt like to be her, persecuted day and night by the paparazzi, their flashes blinding and violently pushing, yelling and provoking her. Their bullying is mental as well as physical and it is very well shown here in those many moments where she is exposed to the rabid pack.

You feel it on you skin, the intrusion, and there is no need for words. You also feel anger at the family who did nothing to prevent this and who were not there to guide her. Throughout the film Amy appears as a sweet, funny, smart and sassy girl who looked for love and approval in the worst people. An old soul in a young person’s body, her lyrics, shown as close ups from her writing pads, tell a different story from what people believed her to be.

Amy did not want the celebrity, power, fame and money: Amy just wanted to sing.

I hope this masterpiece gets the Oscar.