Film review: Amy

With her distinctive beehive hairdo, thick eyeliner and deep, soulful vocal delivery, Amy Winehouse became an icon for a musical generation.

Her debut album Frank left critics and music fans in a daze but it was her follow-up, Back To Black, that rewrote the record books, earning Winehouse five Grammy awards including Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year, plus three Ivor Novello awards for her songwriting and a BRIT award as Best British Female.

At the height of this fame and success, Winehouse died from alcohol poisoning, aged 27.

Asif Kapadia’s controversial documentary charts the life and times of the distinctive singer-songwriter, incorporating contributions from her friends and family, plus some of the people who worked with her and were touched by her fragility and genius.

The documentary details Winehouse’s well-publicised battles with drug and alcohol addiction as well as her mental health issues, and pieces together events leading up to her death, posing difficult questions about the culpability of the media and some of her inner circle in her tragic downfall.