Amy

This disturbing, disconcerting, booze ‘n' drugs documentary about British songwriter/vocalist Amy Winehouse rises above the ordinary in the capable hands of filmmaker Asif Kapadia. Long before winning six Grammys and acquiring her signature beehive, tattoos, and eyeliner wings, pop idol Winehouse grew up, as one pal says, “like a classic North London Jewish girl with lots of attitude.” But the telltale signs were evident early on, including bulimia and depression, beginning after her domineering father, Mitch, left her mother to live with another woman when Amy was nine. In her early years as a musician, Winehouse was fortunate to have manager Nick Shymansky and two girlfriends—Juliette Ashby and Lauren Gilbert—who stuck by her until her sassy self-destructiveness drove them away. And then came husband Blake Fielder-Civil, a junkie who introduced her to heroin and crack cocaine. Fearless in front of an audience, cheeky Winehouse was terrified of only one thing: fame. “I don't think I'm going to be at all famous,” she declared in a radio interview. “I don't think I can handle it. I'd probably go mad.” Five years later Winehouse delivered the powerfully personal hit song “Rehab” about her refusal to enter a drug rehabilitation facility. And then in July 2011 she died of alcohol toxicity at age 27. Drawing on early home movies, contemporary newsreel footage, and previously recorded audio interviews, Amy serves up a sorrowful portrait of an artist's deadly downward spiral. Recommended. (S. Granger)