Film Journal 2024: Back to Black

Film Journal 2024: Back to Black
Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson

It’s a flawed film, to be sure. The way they shoot the film is very flat, and it definitely could have used some cinematic flourishes to give the thing some layers. It throws us straight into her personal struggles, leaving very little room for an expressive or recognizable arc. It also gives us too much of Winehouse the musician, saturating the film to the point where the expected climatic moments loses some of its power. It doesn’t help that the supporting cast is given very little room to play too, choosing instead to keep us centered on Winehouse for the full 2 hour run time. Any external point of perspective fades quicker than it surfaces, lost to quick edits and some curious decisions to fast track past some of the more interesting parts of the story.

As a film it still works though, largely because of Marisa Abela’s performance. I kind of wished the film had given her more room to flesh out some earlier years, just so that she could have more of an arc and transformation to flesh out and capture. But she does really good work with the narrowed portrait that she is given. Taken scene by scene as well, there is some compelling scriptwork as well, giving us as viewers a clear sense of the story’s potential. I wanted more of the character interactions and more time sitting with some of the key and important transitionary points, especially the ones that are kept off screen. It should have streamlined some of the more repetitive portions of the dramatization of her ebb and flow between addiction and performance and digged deeper into the moments that could have given us more of the persons who’s lives and interests intersected with hers.

Overall it’s a decent biopic. I think there is enough to appreciate here if you are a fan of Winehouse, and even if you are not I think there is enough here to draw you in and become interested in this enigmatic and troubled figure.