Director of the new Amy Winehouse biopic Back To Black Sam Taylor-Johnson has been lambasted by friends of the late singer for glamourising her tearaway husband Blake Fielder-Civil.
The highly anticipated new movie premiered in London on Monday night, with Ms Winehouse’s family present for the first showing of the blockbuster which stars striking Marisa Abela as the troubled songstress.
But some who saw the film were stunned by the lack of criticism of Fielder-Civil, 44, who himself admitted that he first introduced the singer into the world of Class A drug abuse which would cause her such harm.
The convicted thug is understood to have first encouraged her to try smoking crack but this is not depicted in the film as Fielder-Civil, played by former Skins actor Jack O’Connell, is portrayed as an impish and cheeky north London ‘indie boy.’
One friend told the Mail: ‘It’s more like they’re a loved up Disney Princess and her Prince – Blake comes across as a charming and loveable rogue, rather than a thoroughly broken drug addict who dragged Amy into the depths of depravity.’
Director of the new Amy Winehouse biopic Back To Black Sam Taylor-Johnson has been lambasted by friends of the late singer for glamourising her husband Blake Fielder-Civil (Sam pictured last night)
They were stunned by the lack of criticism of Fielder-Civil, 44, who himself admitted that he first introduced the singer into the world of Class A drug abuse (Blake and Amy pictured in 2007)
They added: ‘Her friends and family all know he was responsible for so many of her troubles, but this movie makes him look like a hero who inspired her amazing music.
‘It’s very upsetting for those who know the truth. He should have been held to account for what he really was. He wasn’t loving at all, he was abusive.
Another added of the movie, which is out on Friday: ‘Amy looks lovely and innocent, and her music and talent comes across beautifully, but to let Blake off the hook is just wrong.
‘Watching this you’d come away thinking he was almost the innocent party who just wanted to get clean – it was the total opposite.
‘To be honest, it was an extremely painful portrayal for Amy’s family – to see the man they know caused so much harm glossed over as just a cheeky London lad is a disgrace.’
Defending her decision not to point the finger at Fielder -Civil on the red carpet at the event, Ms Taylor-Johnson who was joined at the event by her husband Aaron Taylor-Johnson, explained: ‘We had to understand why Amy fell in love with him, so it wasn’t about making a one-dimensional villain.
‘We had to fall in love with him to understand why she wrote one of the greatest albums about their love.
‘In terms of Blake, it wasn’t my place to cast judgement on somebody who was obviously an addict, and on the two of them having this intense, albeit toxic, love affair.’
The highly anticipated new movie premiered in London on Monday night, with Marisa Abela starring as the troubled songstress and Jack O’Connell as Blake (pictured)
One friend told the Mail: ‘It’s more like they’re a loved up Disney Princess and her Prince – Blake comes across as a charming and loveable rogue, rather than a drug addict’ (Blake pictured in 2023)
Sam explained: ‘We had to understand why Amy fell in love with him, so it wasn’t about making a one-dimensional villain’ (pictured with Marisa Abela last night)
Ms Winehouse, who died in 2013 aged 27, and Fielder-Civil met in 2003 and married secretly in Miami in 2007.
However, their relationship was tumultuous and in 2008 he was jailed for an assault on a pub landlord. A year later the pair ended their marriage and they got divorced after the star was seen getting close to another man on a beach in the Caribbean.
In 2013, he admitted that Ms Winehouse asked to try heroin while he was smoking it, saying: ‘I was smoking it on foil and she said can I try some and I said … I might have put up a weak resistance – the fact is whatever I said she did end up having some.
‘I have to be really sort of conscious about what I say – I don’t want to feel like I’m shirking responsibility. The fact is what I’m saying is of course I regret it, not just because of the damage it’s caused Amy and the loss of life, but the damage to her family but also to my family and also to me.’
In his most recent interview, Fielder-Civil admitted her regrets ‘almost everything’ he did during their relationship – and insisted he still misses her every day, adding: ‘She was my best friend.’
