Asif Kapadia previously directed the excellent SENNA documentary about motor racing, so I was automatically looking forward to this follow up. The subject matter wasn't as interesting to me, but I trust Kapadia enough to deliver an engaging documentary nonetheless.

He doesn't disappoint. AMY is a carefully judged exploration of the life - and death - of modern-day jazz singer Amy Winehouse, whose whirlwind rise to fame was accompanied by drug and alcohol addiction, bulimia, and some decidedly dodgy supporting characters. This lengthy documentary is never boring for an instant and manages to straddle the line between being a celebration of Winehouse's achievements and a portrayal of the increasing tragedy that her life became.

There are high spots - the Grammys, the duet with Tony Bennett - and low spots (the paparazzi attacks, the increasingly obvious toll that drug dependence was taking on her body),along with some obvious villains (step forward, Mitch and Blake). Where AMY really shines though is in its refusal to go the lazy route by interspersing clips with talking head footage; nearly every second of the film features footage of Amy herself, making this feel like a truly dedicated and immersive viewing experience.

Amy Winehouse comes from a broken home. She would become a world famous singer. However, her many self-destructive problems would eventually overwhelm her and she would die at the age of 27. This documentary has many of her friends and supporters describing her rise and her deterioration. Her mother is weak and her estranged father is problematic. She suffered from bulimia, drug and alcohol abuse. I wasn't a big fan but like most people, I think her Rehab song is awesome. What I didn't realize is how personal her songwriting is. The best aspect of the movie is how the songs' lyrics are written out describing each one of her life's journey. It makes the Rehab utterly heartbreaking. The words "if my daddy thinks I'm fine" have a whole new meaning. Her dad is a real piece of work. This is a great documentary that is not simply for the fans.

If you have seen Asif Kapadia's Formula-1-themed "Senna", you basically know what to expect here. This one is a pretty decent film from start to finish, very much by the books, but also with a couple surprisingly great moments. This film here does consist almost exclusively of archive footage and that's fairly impressive as it runs for over 2 hours. We see concert recordings and many recordings as well from Winehouse's husband that he made of the two. He really does look like one of the main forces of Winehouse's downfall and her falling deeper and deeper in this spiral of drugs and alcohol. But there are more reasons, like her tough relationship with her dad or the fact that she could not deal with stardom. This is an argument you hear frequently, but it may be true in her case. There is a scene when we hear that she is sick of singing her old really successful hits, but her struggles kept her from achieving new hits, so she is forced to sing the old ones and it seems as if this really shook her to the core.

The best thing about this film is, without a doubt, the music. No matter what opinion you have about Winehouse in terms of if she brought this on herself or is just a victim of the whole situation, there is no denying she was an absolutely outstanding artist and there are some mesmerizing recordings in here. This film is advertised with the notion that there is unseen material here, but I think this is generally a really pointless references as maybe nobody in the theater has seen all the old material, so it's fine there is unseen material in here, but nobody will perceive it as unseen. Anyway, if this documentary is eligible for Oscar consideration, I am sure it may make a deep run. It's very relevant, very contemporary and very well-made, even if moments of absolute greatness are very rare. One would be the ending when we see how she is dead and quickly afterward we see recordings of her when she was much younger and just a normal girl before her rise to stardom. Good job from Kapadia all in all and I recommend this film. A good tribute to a truly talented and very authentic artist. Thanks Amy for the music. Rest in peace.