Amy (Asif Kapadia)

[Lazlo]

IMDb

[Spinal]

The most interesting aspect of this documentary for me is that the fact that much of this footage exists in the first place is, in itself, an indictment of a vampiric celebrity culture that contributed to Amy's destruction: the invasive paparazzi footage, irksome home videos from sycophants, the camera crew that follows her on recovery vacation at the request of her own father, right down to the well-documented removal of her dead body from her Camden home. The cumulative effect is sickening. She is such an iconic figure that it's hard to believe she was still with us just 5 years ago.

With the benefit of time, it seems pretty clear that she was completely unfit for celebrity. Perhaps her onstage maturity and bravado kept those around her from realizing the extent of her fragility. Whatever the case, it's a mixed feeling to see this film receive the Academy Award and once again know that someone else benefited from Amy's artistry, while the artist herself drowned in alcohol in order to manage her personal demons and escape from the unwanted attention. It's a well-made film, but a hard one to swallow.