Make no mistake, Tina is the ultimate, truly definitive Tina Turner documentary, but if you’re expecting a fluffy affair laced with all the hits then you’re in for disappointment. Award-winning duo Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin’s film is hard-hitting, powerful and unflinching; one that moves the viewer from the opening moments through until the final frames.
A talking-head structured piece full of archive material, Tina begins with footage of the singer performing ‘Ask Me How I Feel,’ a track from her 1989 number one album ‘Foreign Affair’ – an LP that would spawn the hit singles ‘The Best’ and ‘Steamy Windows’. Owning the stage at the height of her fame, Turner performing ‘Ask Me How I Feel’ perfectly sets up the tone of this piece; it is Tina in her own words, the now 81-year-old star speaking candidly to camera from her home in Switzerland answering that very question. “It wasn’t a good life,” we hear Turner say off-screen in the film’s opening moments. “I was [a good life] in some areas, but that doesn’t balance the bad.”
The film then tracks back over that troubled life. From the early days as Anna Mae Bullock growing up in Tennessee, to her early fame with first husband Ike Turner, through to her global success as a solo artist in the 1980s. Of course, this story has been told in dramatic form before – in Brian Gibson’s 1993 feature What’s Love Got To Do With It, based on Turner’s memoir ‘I, Tina’ – but never with footage of the singer personally reflecting on her life, as she does here. And it is a deeply reflective piece – at times harrowing to hear what she has endured, but not once does she shy away from the events of her past.
What the film lacks in the way of music accompaniment – most of her solo hits are absent, and her most famous is saved for the end credits (if you want that, we recommend the exceptional Broadway and West End musical) – it makes up for in the uncompromising detail. No stone is seemingly left unturned during its spritely, though comprehensive 2 hour run-time, and even non-fans should be pulled in by proceedings.
It is also, at times, positively uplifting, the lighter years as Turner breaks away as a solo artist shining a light on just how progressive and strong she was/ is. There is insight from Kurt Loder, the writer who collaborated with the artist on her autobiography, friend Oprah Winfrey, Angela Bassett who convincingly played Turner in What’s Love Got To Do With It, and others from her amazing life, including her now husband and partner of over thirty years, Erwin Bach. His inclusion gives a more upbeat, fairy tale ending in a film that does feels like a swan song – one last dazzling number shining a light one of the greatest.
The best.
Tina plays in the Berlinale Special strand of the 71st Berlin Film Festival. It is also playing as part of the 2021 Glasgow Film Festival. It will be released on Sky Documentaries and HBO and HBO Max in late March 2021.
Tina
Summary
The definitive Tina Turner documentary, wonderfully told. Turner’s involvement makes this a deeply personal, reflective affair and the perfect swan song from one of the very best.
