"I don't write songs to be famous. I write songs because I don't know what I'd do otherwise." With a slightly casual tone, a swaggery look, a look outlined in black: Amy Winehouse is back. A trailer released online this Friday reveals the first images of the biopic directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. The director was also at the helm of the film about John Lennon's early years, Nowhere Boy.
Expected in April 2024, Back to Black, produced by StudioCanal and Monumental Pictures, stars 27-year-old actress Marisa Abela. Moviegoers had seen her in the HBO series Industry. With a horseshoe tattoo on her shoulder, a thick line of liner, a glowing look and a signature hairstyle, the actress, who is playing her first major film role here, is transformed. She will be surrounded by several faces from the British big and small screen: Lesley Manville, who played Princess Margaret in seasons 5 and 6 of The Crown, plays her grandmother (Cynthia Winehouse), Eddie Marsan (The Gentleman, Fair Play) plays her father (Mitch Winehouse) and Juliet Cowan, her mother Janis. Jack O'Connell (Fists Against the Wall, Godless...) also stars as Blake Fielder-Civil, her ex-husband who was held partly responsible for her death.
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A star's itinerary, between darkness and dazzling brilliance
The London icon, harassed by the press and suffering from addiction, died suddenly at the age of 27 in 2011, following an alcohol overdose. This biopic aims to pay tribute to the shooting star-shaped trajectory of one of the greatest soul-women of her time. The synopsis states that the film will focus on "the life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the creation of one of the most iconic albums of our time, inspired by her passionate and tormented love affair with Blake Fielder-Civil."
This brief but incandescent life had already been brought to the screen by Asif Kapadia in 2015. The documentary, soberly titled Amy, shed light on the British star's demons. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
In a few months, fans will be able to rediscover the life of the international star in theaters. In the meantime, they can let themselves be carried away by the eternal melody of Back to Black which punctuates, of course, this promising first trailer.