BACK TO BLACK
Stars of Amy Winehouse film hit red carpet for London premiere amid fan backlash over project
Stars have defended the flick amid criticism from fans of tragic star Amy
STARS of the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black hit the red carpet for the premiere in London tonight — in suitably sombre outfits.
Actress Marisa Abela, who plays Amy, and male lead Jack O’Connell posed in black outfits at the Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square.
5
5
Marisa, 27, known for her role in hit BBC Two and HBO series Industry, portrays troubled Amy as the film charts her rise from her early days in Camden, North London, to global superstar.
Skins star Jack, 33, plays her former husband Blake Fielder-Civil as the movie depicts their tumultuous relationship.
The film has divided the soul singer’s fans and friends since it was announced.
It has drawn criticism for “ghoulish” depictions of her drink and drug addiction leading up to her death in 2011 at the age of 27.
READ MORE ON CELEBRITIES
But Jack defended the project, saying everyone was determined to do Amy and her memory justice.
One of the producers, Alison Owen, said ahead of the premiere: “People who die young become overly defined by that death rather than their life.
“Amy was fragile in some ways but she was also strong. She was not a candle in the wind, she was a blowtorch.”
Its director Sam Taylor-Johnson, 57, arrived in a black dress with leather-jacket clad husband Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 33 — hotly tipped to be the next James Bond.
Most read in Celebrity
Amy’s dad Mitch Winehouse looked relaxed in black suit and tie, with ex-wife Janis in dark floral.
Eddie Marsan, 55, who plays Mitch, was also in black as he smiled at the cameras.
The film is out on Friday.
5
5
5
Music video for 2006 song Back to Black by Amy Winehouse
Icon given Hollywood treatment
By Dulcie Pearce, Sun film critic
LOVE is a losing game in this biopic about the extraordinary talent that was Amy Winehouse.
The tragic tale reveals how a young Jewish girl from North London came to write powerful songs of love and heartbreak.
This sees director Sam Taylor-Johnson once again taking on the story of one of our greatest musicians, after her 2009 debut, Nowhere Boy, about John Lennon.
But does she do Amy justice? In the first 15 minutes, perhaps not.
It feels like a rose-tinted version of the Winehouse family.
But the moment Blake enters, the foot is on the pedal of this destructive love affair.
Marisa Abela, from BBC’s Industry, takes on her first lead.
From girl-next-door to drug-addicted superstar, she does a sterling job of the complicated character.
Many fans were concerned about her singing, but it is spot on.
Blake Fielder-Civil, by Jack O’Connell, is dealt with sensitively as a fellow lost soul.
And the now-famous cab driver dad, Mitch — Eddie Marsan — comes across as a decent dad.
This is a Hollywood friendly film of the downfall through drugs and dodgy men of a superstar.
A Disney version of Amy’s decline, but still a desperately sad lost love.
Topics