I ended up going to see the Amy Winehouse biopic Back To Black twice this week. A friend asked me if I wanted to see it on Monday night so of course I said yes, as it had been on my radar. A couple of days later my “Last Thursday of the Month Film Group” friend got in touch to say she was really looking forward to Back To Black this week. I don’t know about you but this month seems to have flown in and I had honestly thought we had another week of April to go, but it seemed not. I played dumb and didn’t mention I’d messed up and seen it already, so I tripped along for another outing.

Was it worth seeing twice? Probably not as we mostly know Amy’s story from all the media coverage she was given at the time of her success, but we did get a bit more of her backstory from the time just ahead of her breakthrough. I’m not sure how true to life it all was but it seems she was really close to her grandmother, Cynthia, who had been a jazz singer back in the day and sang at Ronnie Scott’s. It was from Cynthia she got her love of jazz singers like Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald. She also got her trademark beehive hairdo from Cynthia.

The actress who played Amy, Marisa Abela, did a pretty good job and I’ve read that she did the singing for the film, which if true, impresses me a lot. I suspect there was a bit of jiggery-pokery with the soundtrack though to make her sound so similar – there can only be one Amy Winehouse.

For someone like me who likes everything in her life to be ship-shape and in good order, it was a tough watch. Amy led a chaotic life and in the film I just wanted to give her house a good thorough, mend her ripped clothes and give her a hot bath before she went to bed. Would she still be with us if she hadn’t met “her Blake”? I’m not sure, as even before she met him she was on a bit of a self-destructive path but there is no doubt they, as a couple, were a fairly toxic mix. Her dad Mitch doesn’t come out of it too badly as it seems he was her biggest supporter but had very little control over her behaviour.

Whatever the truth of the film there were some very good musical segments where all the hits got performed – Back To Black, Tears Dry On Their Own, Valerie, Rehab, Me & Mr Jones and many more. Just so sad that Amy left us at the tender age of 27, heading off to join all the others in that tragic 27 Club like Jimi, Brian, Janis, Jim and Kurt. Like with the rest of them, success came quickly for Amy but there were too many temptations for someone with an addictive personality and no-one strong enough around to keep her on the right path. Only one song to leave you with, Back To Black.

Until next time…

Back To Black Lyrics
Song by Amy Winehouse/Mark Ronson

He left no time to regret
Kept his dick wet
With his same old safe bet
Me and my head high
And my tears dry
Get on without my guy

You went back to what you knew
So far removed from all that we went through
And I tread a troubled track
My odds are stacked
I’ll go back to black

We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to…

I go back to us

I love you much
It’s not enough
You love blow and I love puff
And life is like a pipe
And I’m a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside

We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to…

We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to…

Black, black, black, black, black, black, black
I go back to…
I go back to…

We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to…

We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to black