Even before its release, “Back to Black” has attracted backlash with criticism ranging from the casting to concerns it could exploit Winehouse’s story.
“Given the vulture-like efficiency with which her life was picked over, it’s near-impossible to think of a sincere reason to make a movie about Winehouse -– at least not one that isn’t motivated by greed,” wrote music editor Roisin O’Connor in The Independent.
Winehouse, who died from alcohol poisoning aged just 27 in 2011, was a distinctive figure with her beehive hairdo, heavy black eye makeup, multiple tattoos and smoky voice.
She shot to international fame with her Grammy Award-winning 2006 album “Back to Black” which included the track “Rehab”, charting her battle with addiction.
Director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s biopic is the second big-screen telling of Winehouse’s story, coming nearly a decade after Asif Kapadia’s 2015 documentary “Amy”.
That film won an Oscar but was publicly condemned by her family, in particular Winehouse’s father who claimed it tried to portray him as “money-grabbing” and “attention-seeking”.
Mitch Winehouse and his former wife Janis attended this week’s premiere in London but Taylor-Johnson said the family had not contributed to her film.
“It was important to meet with them out of respect,” she told Empire.
“But they didn’t have any involvement in terms of… like they couldn’t change things. They couldn’t dictate how I was to shoot,” she said.
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