Back to Black

Amy Winehouse, an iconic songwriter and performer, achieved international fame, struggled through a broken marriage and substance abuse, and died tragically at age 27. The official trailer for Sam Taylor-Johnson’s new biopic Back to Black opens with Winehouse (played by Marisa Abela) picking up an acoustic guitar to write a song, while in the background a bell tolls and strings swell on the same pitch.

Yes this trailer features some predictable trailer music gestures which I’ll get to shortly, but most of the music for this trailer is of course drawn from Amy Winehouse’s 2006 “Back to Black” album. And rightly so–that phenomenal album won Winehouse five Grammy Awards.

We get the first taste of Winehouse’s voice at 0:06 as we hear the familiar hook “No, no, no,” from her hit song “Rehab.” Nice touch visually here, instead of the traditional production company title card we get Focus Features’ name spinning on a turntable, in three different shots synched to the vocals. That reminds us of the Baby Driver trailer that features spinning jukebox records with the studio names.

Amy Winehouse was famous not only for her music but also for her attitude and lifestyle, and at 0:20, after she says “I ain’t no Spice Girl,” the rhythm section and horns kick into the “Rehab” groove, getting our toes tapping. Listen carefully, because this is actually an edited and rearranged—“trailerized”—version of this song. There are added electronic cymbal swells at 0:40 and 0:44, and a fuller orchestra and big drums are added at 0:45.

As we hear this larger-than-life rearranged “Rehab” on screen we see shots of Winehouse’s neighbourhood in north London, her charismatic performances on stage, her proud taxi-driving father, and her relationship with future husband Blake Fielder-Civil. This culminates in the arrival of the song’s chorus at 0:45, synched with the visuals of Winehouse singing this song on stage at 0:46.

But we only get halfway through the chorus before the song disappears at 0:58, just as we hear a radio DJ proclaim Winehouse’s astronomical rise to the top of the pop charts. From here to the end of the trailer, when we hear more of Winehouse’s vocals, we no longer have her catchy band’s accompaniment. This story doesn’t have a happy ending and by the end of the trailer she doesn’t get her groove back.

From 1:01-1:20 we see scenes of Winehouse’s hopeful marriage in Miami and subsequent breakup, while cinematic orchestral strings provide chords behind vocals from the first verse of the title track “Back to Black.” Here we have an even more obvious trailer-izing of a song. If the trailer editors had used the original version of “Back to Black” that we know and love, with its signature rollicking piano groove, it wouldn’t have set the same tone as the melancholic orchestral strings do here.

The final montage reminds us that we should go see this film because it will reveal the story of Winehouse’s heartbreak which inspired the songs on the classic album. As a result, the trailer dials things up a notch or two at 1:30, where we climax with the chorus of “Back to Black” accompanied by full orchestra, more electronic cymbal swells, and triplets in the high strings at 1:51. Starting at 1:41 the visuals are cutting from shot to shot on the beat for 12 beats in a row, helping build to the big finish. There are even shots of Winehouse at a funeral at 1:42, echoing the aesthetic from the music video for “Back to Black.”

This is a strong trailer. It is cut to two Winehouse hits, and the accompaniment pivots from R&B band to dramatic orchestra, mirroring Winehouse’s upbeat music and upheaval at home. While this trailer opted for full orchestra instead of the original rollicking piano for its adaptation of “Back to Black,” a piano does take us out with a final upper-register chord at 1:58 as we see the film’s release date: May 17.

— Jack Hui Litster