The makers of a new biopic about Amy Winehouse have defended their positive representation of the singer’s ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil. Alison Owen, who was a producer on Back to Black, said they wanted to show Fielder-Civil from Winehouse’s point of view. “Everyone thought Blake was a scuddy junkie. Well, not from Amy’s eyes,” she said. “For Amy, he was Marlon Brando meets Joe Strummer meets Romeo. He was sexy and glamorous and gorgeous, so we wanted to portray him as Amy saw him.”
The film has received criticism for glossing over the fact that Fielder-Civil introduced Winehouse to Class A drugs. He is presented favourably, introducing Winehouse to bands like the Shangri-Las, who influenced her seminal album, Back to Black. Winehouse and Fielder-Civil met in 2005 and had an on-off relationship for four years. In that time, Winehouse became addicted to crack and heroin before dying of alcohol poisoning in 2011, aged 27.
Speaking to the Londoner on the red carpet at the premiere last night, Owen said that director Sam Taylor-Johnson decided not to base the film on any of the books written about Winehouse, so that they didn’t have to “tap dance around any kind of approvals”. She and screenwriter Matt Greenalgh instead used Winehouse’s lyrics and diaries to form a narrative. “I always think, ‘What would Amy have wanted?’” said Owen. “And you kind of know immediately what she would have wanted – I don’t feel like it’s projection.” Is it problematic to take an artist’s lyrics as gospel? “Lots of people write very wacky lyrics but I think Amy’s lyrics weren’t, they were very experiential and very authentic,” she said.
Owen is the mother of singer Lily Allen, and sees similarities between her daughter and Amy. “They’re both very authentic and real. Both of those girls would never have thought of themselves as a brand,” she said. “Neither of them ever wanted to do media training – probably could have done with a bit,” she joked. “But they wanted to be their authentic selves, and that’s why I think people connected with them.” Owen has previously said she feared that “the tabloid press would destroy my daughter like they had a hand in doing with Amy”.
