Summary
A document of an eventful life and career, told by the only person who could play the part of Tina Turner. Simply the best.
Tina Turner was 45 when she released ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It’ and the multi-platinum Private Dancer album. Five years later, she released ‘Simply (The Best).’ It’s worth noting that two of her biggest hits came decades into a career filled with professional and personal peaks and troughs that took her to Thunderdome and beyond.
Filmmakers Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin (LA 92) explore those highs and lows in the simply titled TINA. Starting with her early R&B performances in the 1960s, and continuing through an abusive relationship with Ike Turner, it culminates with Turner as a stadium-filling hit machine.
With apparently unprecedented access to Turner, now living in Zurich with her husband Erwin Bach, Lindsay and Martin take us through Turner’s life in a fairly straight chronological fashion. In some ways, this is a typical ‘talking heads’ piece intercut with archival footage. Yet when the story is as fascinating as this, just sticking to the facts is more than enough to carry the narrative.
TINA takes us through the early days, where the artist would perform a monumental four shows a night. While contemporary Tina is through talking about Ike, the filmmakers use a 1981 People magazine article and interview tapes to chronicle his abuse. We see Phil Specter introduce her to the wall of sound, elevating her voice on ‘River Deep Mountain High’ (1966) and launching her solo career. Of particular interest are some of the lesser known years, when Turner worked cabaret in the early 80s prior to her first ‘comeback.’
In addition to new and archival pieces with Turner, new pieces with the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Angela Bassett (who played Turner in 1993’s What’s Love Got to Do With It) and biographer Kurt Loder offer insight into various stages in her career. Katori Hall, who co-wrote the book for the jukebox musical Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, is also a frequent commentator, with the Broadway opening serving as an end cap for the film.
While dedicated Turner fans are unlikely to find anything new here, you’d still be hard pressed to find a more engaging document about her whole life and career. Describing that journey, Turner said in a 1985 interview, “I’m a girl from a cotton field that pulled myself above what was not taught to me.” As the film closes out with ‘The Best,’ it’s hard to disagree with one of the great survivors and entertainers of our time.
2021 | USA | DIRECTOR: Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin | WRITER: Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin | CAST: Tina Turner, Angela Bassett, Oprah Winfrey, Kurt Loder, Katori Hall | DISTRIBUTOR: Universal, HBO Max (US), Berlinale 2021 | RUNNING TIME: 118 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 1-5 March 2021 (GER), 27 March 2021 (USA)
