Spotlight on ‘Tina’
HBO documentary takes fresh look at music legend
“Tina,” a revelatory HBO documentary about Tina Turner’s incredible life, rise to fame, struggles and search for happiness, is an eye-opener, even for those who think they know all about the rock-pop-soul singer.
How did the Oscar-winning co-directors Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin sit down with Turner, now 81, in her palatial Zurich retreat and talk about the one thing she doesn’t seem to want to talk about, which is her life?
“That’s how we discovered the point of view of the film we were going to make,” Lindsay said with a laugh.
Turner first became famous as the star of the Ike & Tina Turner Sixties Soul Revue with dancing Ikettes and her sensational moves and vocals.
In the ’70s, she left Ike and virtually disappeared, only to engineer one of the all-time great showbiz comebacks with the 1984 album “Private Dancer,” a Mad Max movie, her autobiography “I, Tina” and sold-out stadium shows around the globe, most notably before 180,000 fans in Brazil.
Her candid revelations of the physical and sexual abuse she suffered for years with Ike were the basis for a hit movie, “What’s Love Got To Do With It” (’93).
“Tina” makes clear she finds that an emotionally draining subject, yet reporters never stopped bringing it up.
“The first time we met Tina was in her lovely home,” Martin began. “She sat down with us and said, ‘You know, there’s been a movie, there’s been a book and there’s a musical (Broadway’s ‘Tina’). Why are we making a documentary?’
“That broke the ice. We said, ‘We’re here to ask the same question.’
“In those early conversations before she was on camera, it became abundantly clear that the trauma she’s endured — not just Ike — is bubbling underneath the surface.
“That’s when we realized the one thing no one’s explored in the grand narrative of Tina Turner is: How does Tina feel about her own story?
“Also how does Tina feel about the story that’s been constructed? What’s Tina’s point of view on the legend of Tina Turner? That really gave us insight into the direction of the film.”
“Tina” also offers a flabbergasting display of Turner’s transformative powers onstage.
“Ultimately part of Tina’s strength in some ways is her ability to move on.” Lindsay noted.
“It doesn’t mean you forget about it, it doesn’t mean the pain isn’t real but she clearly has the capacity to say, ‘OK, that happened. Now I have to move forward.’”