Amy Film Reflection

AMY DID IT!

So far, definitely the best film I have seen in class. Amy follows the career of Amy Winehouse, a very gifted singer, and performer, from the start of her career all the way until her death. The audience sees as Amy becomes increasingly uncomfortable with fame, watches men take advantage of her success, and see her struggle with alcohol, bulimia, and drugs. It is a very sad story. What I found particularly unique about it though was its voyeuristic quality. It is subtle, but the film makes a point of lingering on shorts where Amy Winehouse is being confronted by the paparazzi. The camera lingers showing the number of people getting as close to her as possible, making ridiculous demands, and being increasingly demanding of her time and energy. The film also compares this to moments where the mainstream media, the news, and other sources, becomes increasingly critical and mocking of Amy over time. What I find interesting about both of these bodies, however, is that they are the main source of footage in this film. The production crew behind Amy was not filming her documentary while she was alive, and instead constructed film from what was available, old family movies, the antagonizing media sources that hounded Amy in life. What I find particularly interesting about that is the sort of meta quality it lends to the cinematics in the film. Because the film is created using this footage, the documentary feels as invasive as their sources, and I, in particular, felt like I was stepping into a space that Amy did not invite me to see. This actually lends itself nicely to the overall narrative of the film since it shows so much of the damage the public life did to Amy’s private life, and yet it also makes me feel deeply uncomfortable watching the film. It was a different discomfort than that created by a movie like the Social Network though. I felt far more engaged by what was causing my discomfort in Amy because it was paired to far more empathy and sympathy for her, wherein the Social Network I largely felt the board and frustrated.