LOS ANGELES, USA, May 23 ------ The filmmakers behind 'Tina' talk about the journey they took in the making of the documentary. Tina Turner has lived through it all – abandoned by her parents, sexually, physically and mentally abused by Ike Turner, survived cancer, a stroke, kidney transplant, the suicide of one of her sons and her own assisted suicide plan. How she talked about all these with candor in a documentary was recently revealed by the filmmakers. Oscar-winning directors for best feature documentary (Undefeated) Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin talked about how their legendary subject in HBO’s Tina opened up about her painful past, which included black eyes and bruises which she covered with make-up in her shows.
She also opened up about her harrowing escape from Ike, who transformed from being her musical partner to an abusive, womanizing, and drug-addicted monster. To break away from Ike & Tina, she gave a lot to Ike – real estate, publishing companies, cars and more. From her initial struggles as a solo artist who took on gigs to pay off debts, Tina rose to become a very successful entertainer and the first Black woman rock and roller to perform in arenas like the Rolling Stones.
Now 81, and happily retired in Zurich since 2009, the music icon whose many memorable songs include “Let’s Stay Together,” “Proud Mary,” “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” “River Deep, Mountain High,” “The Best,” “Private Dancer” and “I Don’t Wanna Fight,” sat down with the two directors in a series of interviews for Tina, which has been earning acclaim. Daniel and T.J. also talked to people close to Tina, including Angela Bassett, who played Tina in What’s Love Got to Do with It; Oprah Winfrey; Kurt Loder, who co-wrote the singer’s autobiography, I, Tina: My Life Story; and husband Erwin Bach.
I told Daniel and T.J. in our video conversation how the queen of rock and roll, who was born Anna Mae Bullock in Tennessee, moves people to this day. I shared that my friend and college classmate, Luisa Mendez Marshall, one of Canada’s leading Tina Turner tribute artists, stirs some of her audiences to tears even though they know it’s not Tina Turner they are seeing on stage. “That’s a fascinating aspect of Tina, right?” Daniel said about the celebrated artist, who has been practicing Buddhism for five decades. “Because Angela Bassett says a very similar thing in the film. She is not Tina Turner but people still come up to her to this day and say, you changed my life just portraying her.”
“It’s hard to articulate what is magic, in some respects. I regret not being able to ever see her live even though I could have at some point in my life.” “She was performing when I was into my 20s. One of the things that makes Tina unique is that she’s fully self-taught and so much of it is coming from instinct. That’s a product of where she grew up and the influences she had around her.” “But very much she came up with those dances. She had this natural voice. Especially in a world where everything feels very manufactured, her genuineness comes across.”
“And it includes the narrative of her. It’s hard to also separate the triumph over tragedy and the struggles that she had when you see her up on stage performing to not infuse it with that meaning of what she went through to get there.” “Tina loved the physicality of performing but I don’t think she misses the adulation. She is not a person who is driven by this need to stand in front of a ton of people.” “I am not surprised personally,” remarked Jonathan Chinn, whom I also interviewed along with his fellow producer, Simon Chinn (they are cousins), about how even a Tina tribute act like Luisa deeply affects people.
“This year, Tina is an inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This time as a solo artist. That is testament enough that she is a legend, an icon in her own right for everything that she did without Ike so, yeah, I'm not surprised. One of the things in the film that is so exciting, and people responded to so well is just re-living some of those performances.” “Her cover of ‘Help’ that she does in the film – every time I watch it, I get goosebumps. I can't even imagine what it was like to watch her perform that song – the level of emotional connection.” “Somebody who's a huge Beatles fan said to me, it's the only cover of a Beatles song that's better than the original, which is maybe true. Yeah, so I'm not surprised that she continues to be loved as a performer. She'll last forever in that sense.”
Source: rappler.com
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