Tina Turner

I've actually seen this film now three times, and it still manages to move me. The first time was when I was at Uni and it just happened to be on, on one of those horrible sleepless nights. The film had just started when I put it on, so I had no idea who it was about, but I soon learned that this was the life story of the woman we now tend to recognise as Tina Turner.

Story

Growing up, Anna Mae, as "Tina Turner" was then known, already saw domestic violence, and her mother left her behind after fleeing with her sister from their troubles. Anna Mae was much older when she went to live with her mother again, and was aiming to become a nurse. Then life took a surprising change when she managed to take the microphone for a fans' karaoke bit at a concert. This is where Ike Turner first noticed her, and in the film he was taken by her voice and quickly took her up, soon to be a member of his band. Working together, a little bit of flirting led to more, and before she knew it Anna Mae was getting married. But sinister incidents along the way start to add up, and then the dream of a happy marriage becomes a nightmare from hell.

I haven't read Tina Turner's autobiography, but since watching this film the first time I did find myself browsing the net to learn more about her. It appears there are a small handful of factual inaccuracies in the film. Also, there are scenes that Ike himself disputes ever happening, although personally I'm not sure I'd believe him. Of course, I cannot be the judge of that so felt the best thing was to try and keep an open mind. Even Tina Turner was not 100% pleased with the film, where characters were invented and things happened that she had never claimed to have happened. I don't blame her for this, but I would say that as a film, it is hard to reflect long term sustained abuse, and to go into full details who was there and what others did. For this reason it might make a bit more sense to mix fact and fiction.

I have had plenty of experience of bullies, and I am having plenty now, but at least I have a safe place I can go home to, and I do not live in fear. That probably would have been the one thing to topple me over the edge. There are actually only a small handful of violent scenes in the film, a lot more is the behaviour that builds up to them and the effect it has on other relationships. But just those few scenes were enough to get me on the edge of my seat thinking how horrible it must be to be trapped in that hell. Aside from being an eye-opener about how awful things really were and the fact that being rich and famous really does not guarantee you a peaceful, free and happy life, this is a hard-hitting story of how a person, however strong or confident, can almost be completely brought down and destroyed by a violent relationship. It's not much of a spoiler to point out that Tina Turner survived, and recently I saw that she was doing concerts just one last time. But even though it is common knowledge how the film might end, there was still ample suspense around how each event would change things for her.

Characters/Acting

One of the things that was criticised was the casting of Lawrence Fishburne as Ike Turner, because with his figure, appearance and acting with an emphasis on power, this was apparently a contradiction to "the real Ike". I neither agree nor disagree with this, because I really don't know, but I would say if intended to be from the viewpoint of a victim of domestic violence, I'd imagine this was close enough to what she would have seen, even if it isn't the full picture. Of course other people's views are bound to be different, and you could argue this was all for emotive effect, so it is worth staying open-minded about the truth. Fishburne created some very distinctive mannerisms and this made his character more familiar and perhaps daunting. I did read somewhere that he wanted to humanise Ike, and although I'd still regard Ike's behaviour as unforgiveable, I would agree that in this film he wasn't just a monster - just there was little or no good in him.

Angela Bassett takes her role very seriously as Anna Mae/Tina Turner, and there is more to her acting than just trying to imitate the singer as closely as possible. Her character was raw and real, not just a damsel in distress, yet not lacking the emotional fragility that you could expect her to have. Bassett doesn't try to dress everything up, and this is not a pretty film, definitely. There are so many different aspects to her personality, I'd struggle to explain them, but anyway it is better you see them from her yourself!

The film's key focus is on Ike and Anna Mae/Tina Turner, and although there are numerous other characters, they generally fall into the background. For instance Anna Mae's mother, the man who wanted to sign her up as a singer in her own right, the backing singers, Ike's band and other friends. There is also Jackie, a friend and former backing singer, played by Vanessa Bell Calloway who, may be fictitious, but plays a good role in giving the film an outside perspective and saying what a lot of us might want to, seeing a friend in this situation.

Film Qualities

The soundtrack is generally emotive with the added benefit of featuring many of the Turners' famous songs, but as part of the plot and for the theme music. Really, little else would be required, or even fit in with this film.

The development of fashions and hairstyles is notable throughout the film, but for Ike and Tina. You start to see some familiar features shine through as the film progresses, and apparantly the real Tina Turner helped Bassett a bit in achieving that image. Ike's appearance changes throughout the film based on the looks he adopted at different stages, some more obvious, e.g. Afro hairstyle, than others. The clothes also start to get more dramatic and vibrant towards the centre of the film. You barely see much age change in their looks, but I think it is made obvious by the acting in the way their personalities develop anyway.

The stage scenes seem all fairly realistic, albeit mostly small-scale. The glam-factor was actually quite minimal considering how famous we know Tina Turner became, but this allows us to focus more on what life was like behind the scenes.

Classification

I'm not really sure about this one. The film has been classified as an 18, and part of me thinks that people over 15 should really be allowed to see it. It would seem obvious, when I say there is a rape scene, that the rating must be an 18. It really is horrible to watch that scene and in fact the second time I saw it, I left the room (can't rewind/fast-forward at the moment) and when it came on telly I changed the channel so my sister didn't have to see it although I'm sure she'd be okay. I don't think you see much sexually, but it is more the horror of what is happening that really hits you. This, however, is something that a sensible audience would easily understand from this film. This is the only scene that I think could possibly prevent people aged between 15 and 18 seeing the film, although I suppose that perhaps most people that age would not want to see the film due to its nature - but that's really their decision. I think the film provides some valuable lessons that, given how common domestic violence really is, could help others to see the signs and see ways to help and support people who might be going through it. Some scenes could even make people recognise bullying behaviour that goes on in their own relationships and get out before it gets worse.

Conclusion

It is certainly worth watching at least once and you may well find that you want to see it again. This film is not about entertainment and must be taken seriously, but if you care to do that, I strongly recommend it. Rather than just saying this is a very inaccurate portrayal of what really happened to the star, I'd say this is a picture of what someone imagined it would be like to be a star living under the shadow of domestic abuse, based on the story of Ike and Tina Turner. By this definition, the film really is unmissable, but perhaps I just like it too much to stick to the other definition!

If you are or have been in a violent relationship, or suffered bullying of some other kind, it is likely you'll find this more upsetting, but nevertheless I think there is a lot to benefit from this film and I therefore recommend it even more. When you see things from an outside point of view, you might even find yourself re-evaluating the way you deal with things yourself. The only thing I am unsure of is where a person actually is a bully (and most people would not identify themselves as one even if they were, which makes this harder) - would this film help? I think it might only make bullies feel ashamed for a while, but it would be nice if it encouraged them to change their ways and deal with problems in a different way. I can't judge on this, but it is probably worth a watch.

For me, as a kid I had always imagined that if I could break into stardom then everyone would respect me and no one would ever have reason to bully me again, because I'm not a loser, not ugly (they plaster people in make-up!), not poor etc. etc, but after seeing this film I genuinely realised, no one is immune. What you really need to work on is how you cope with it, rather than how to get away from it. I'd watch this film again, probably several times, and for me personally, this really is a top film.

My review, first posted on Dooyoo