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‘Her demons were probably worse’: does Back to Black reveal the real Amy Winehouse?


Tortured genius, chaotic addict or frustrated homemaker? As Sam Taylor-Johnson’s biopic hits cinemas, we look at how its depiction compares with previous accounts of the singer’s life

Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, who made the 2009 John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy as well as the 2015 Fifty Shades of Grey adaptation, Back to Black is the second film about Winehouse’s life and legacy, after the Asif Kapadia documentary Amy. The film depicts the pair meeting at the Good Mixer pub in Camden – noting the fact that Fielder-Civil (played by Jack O’Connell) had a girlfriend at the time – and their subsequent turbulent relationship, including their hasty wedding in Miami. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA Despite production company StudioCanal initially saying Back to Black would “focus on Amy’s extraordinary genius, creativity and honesty that infused everything she did”, the film only rarely depicts her writing or recording.

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