NeueHouse, the hottest work and social club in Manhattan hosted an exclusive screening of the new Amy Winehouse movie Back to Black a day prior to its US-theatrical release.
The event, hosted in NeueHouse’s recently renovated movie theater, kicked off with an introduction with Back to Black’s director, Sam Taylor-Johnson and after the tear-jerking screening, wrapped with a Q&A with producer Alison Owen.
It would be easy to write-off Back to Black. Perhaps it’s been too soon since Winehouse’s untimely death or the A24-produced documentary Amy from 2015. However, the insightful introduction provided by director Sam Taylor-Johnson, who also directed the John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy made it clear at the top of the screening that Back to Black isn’t the usual cradle-to-grave biopic that one would assume based on the nature of the film.
“When I sat down with [writer] Matt Greenhalgh, who, for the first time I did, was for Nowhere Boy I said, you know, let’s just focus in on the music because I think the music should tell us the story,” Taylor-Johnson shared. “I felt like she’d become such a victim to the tragedy that we were all sort of forgetting how brilliant she was as a musician and how when you listen to the music, we all connect with her, but let’s sort of see her tell us the story. So that’s what you’re going to see. And ostensibly, that’s the love story because Black to Black, it is real, you know, the love story of her and Blake [Civil-Fielder].”
The music Taylor-Johnson is referring to is Winehouse’s sophomore and critically acclaimed album, Back to Black. The album, featuring groundbreaking hits like Tears Dry Own Their Own and Rehab, is a result of the tumultuous and well-documented by paparazzo relationship between Amy Winehouse and ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil.
Marisa Abela plays Amy Winehouse between the ages of 17-27, and as the film continues it is clear no other actress could have played this role. She sings each of the songs herself and truly transforms into the Winehouse we knew up until her passing in 2011. Jack O’Connell also plays a fitting Fielder-Civil. Both characters embody the London of the early aughts, and it is truly a journey in time, if viewers are willing to go in with an open heart.
At the conclusion of the film, tears still damp on our cheeks (well, maybe I’m just talking about myself here), producer and visionary behind the film Alison Owen was introduced to the crowd. Owen, known for Saving Mr. Banks and Elizabeth, as well as raising pop star Lily Allen offers a unique perspective to the film.
“I went through the noughties with Amy Winehouse in my arena because Lily, my daughter, was, you know, a singer at the same time. Yeah. Amy was always in the stratosphere of, like, you know, they’re on some of the same gigs, the same festivals, and I got to know Amy a little bit, and I could see that she was a lot more fragile and really got destroyed by the experience, but she was also this most extraordinary talent, and it was heartbreaking to see her burnt in the light of that flame, and I felt that she was really due, a kind of testament to her genius, that she didn’t really get so much in her lifetime, and so we decided to do that for her.”
Owen shared additional insight on the work that went into creating the film, including getting licensing rights to the music, and meeting with Amy’s parents and Blake himself. Overall, it was a fascinating night. If you don’t plan on seeing Back to Black in theaters, at least give Back to Black, the album, and pour one out—it’s what Amy would’ve wanted you to do.
