Back To Black (2024)
A biopic: a film dramatizing the life of a particular person, typically a public or historical figure. Well, they got the dramatizing right, because that was actually all there was.
In 2015, we got one of the best documentaries ever made, “Amy”. It was brilliant, raw, and it showed all of Amy’s story—the dark and the bright sides. But unlike “Back to Black”, it had the courage to share the blame, spreading it among everyone involved.
“Back to Black” is a cowardly movie that never even tries to scratch the surface when discussing people who are still alive today and could potentially sue or hold a mirror to the faces of those behind the movie. It portrays a boyfriend who is attacked by a crazed, drunk Amy, eventually realizing she is the problem after he goes to jail. It depicts an amazing dad who is an idol and is always there for Amy without ever wanting anything in return. And then, it shows a broken Amy, always bringing it all upon herself.
The movie focuses so much on her downfall that even when she achieves something very few people in the world ever did—like winning five Grammys for an album—you only see it in a quick few minutes before returning to her self-destruction.
Marisa Abela does an okay job; she never truly captures the essence and energy of Amy, but to be fair, that’s an impossible task. No matter how good an actress you are, no matter how many mannerisms you can mimic, there are some people in the world who just have something inexplicable, and Amy was one of them. We’re talking about one of the best singers to ever walk this earth, so what made anyone think that any actress, singer, or human being could sing even one note of her songs without us noticing the switch? Every time it transitions from one to the other, it feels like a slap in the face.
Sam Taylor-Johnson was probably the worst choice to helm a movie like this. Not only does she have a bad track record with movies like “Fifty Shades of Grey“, but she also obviously didn’t understand what this woman went through. She fails to grasp how Amy was destroyed little by little with every action, mainly by those around her. This is a movie that will make many see Amy in a light that she doesn’t deserve, and for me, that’s a huge failure in a movie that calls itself a biopic.
Should biopics be based on a true story, or is it okay to manipulate the story?
