She was the first singer to sign with Winehouse’s own record label, Lioness, and the last to appear with her on stage – at Camden’s Roundhouse, three days before Winehouse’s death.īromfield is still a singer, but it’s hard to call her a star. Encouraged by Winehouse, Bromfield also became a singer. The result, “Amy Winehouse & Me: Dionne’s Story,” is more like a filmed article than an actual film.īromfield knew Winehouse from age 6 thanks to the friendship that was formed between her mother, Julie Din, and the star. The goddaughter has grown up and she, too, has decided the time had come to tell all. She was never able to realize that desire, though she did have a goddaughter: Dionne Bromfield, the daughter of a close friend from the Jewish community. But it is doubtful they will gain any new or interesting insights on Winehouse the artist and performer.Īmong the clips from interviews sprinkled throughout “Reclaiming Amy,” one in particular stands out: the heartbreaking moment when Winehouse reveals that she wants children. They can also take some pleasure from historical moments such as when Winehouse wins a Grammy Award and hugs her mother – the love and pain are beyond any doubt. Winehouse’s fans may derive some satisfaction from the compassionate and loving way she is portrayed and from the home videos the documentary utilizes. In other words, it’s all about them, not about her. That, of course, doesn’t include the production and selling of “Reclaiming Amy.” It appears that the stress is on the first word (“Reclaiming”) and not on the second. Instead, he presents a cast of kindly characters – the father and his current partner Amy’s stepbrother Michael, who talks of her admiringly three close friends, who remember things slightly differently than the way they appeared in the tabloids.Īmy Winehouse, from a picture taken from the Oscar-winning 2015 documentary "Amy." Lev CinemaĪt a certain stage, the parents agree that the hardest thing for them is the media circus that has persisted around their daughter’s death. The father doesn’t place himself front and center of the story.
With the help of family photos and school report cards, he wants the viewer to see her as his little girl, not just a troubled celebrity. He wants to show that his daughter had an ordinary, even happy, childhood growing up in north London. It is worth noting that he manages her estate and inherited her money. He portrays himself as a victim of Kapadia’s documentary, which he says ruined his life, and insists on refuting its allegations one by one. absolves himself of any blame for pushing his daughter to perform when she was at rock bottom. Hidden treasures: A shrine to Amy WinehouseĪ requiem for Amy Winehouse, without the psychobabble Portrait of Amy Winehouse as a fragile Jewish girl It’s as if to hint with the gentleness of a battering ram that no one is to blame for Winehouse’s death from accidental alcohol poisoning: it was the singer’s predilection for addiction that killed her. It also deals with other issues, like mental health, bulimia and destructive relationships. The final half hour of “Reclaiming Amy” is devoted to the singer’s own addictions to drugs and alcohol, which eventually led to her death at age 27. It also includes an interview where the mother expresses her appreciation in front of the camera while the father cries crocodile tears.
Toward the end, the parents talk about a foundation they established in Winehouse’s name to help women with addictions. Among other things, it reveals Collins’ deteriorating health, which both affects her body and her memory.
“Reclaiming Amy” is filled with excuses for why it was produced and released at this moment in time. He’s decided to give his side of the story and perhaps settle accounts with Asif Kapadia’s Oscar-winning 2015 documentary “Amy,” which portrays cabdriver Mitch as a negative and destructive influence on the singer-songwriter.īritish singer Amy Winehouse, who died of accidental alcohol poisoning at age 27 in July 2011. But the emotionally detached recitation sounds like a hostage reading a prepared message, with the kidnapper being father Mitch Winehouse, who is tired of being the bad guy in the story. She’s talking, she says, in an effort to share with the public how she remembers her daughter. There’s no mistaking her intonation: she’s reading from a script.