Tina Turner was probably the first singer I knew in my early years, there was something about her cracked voice, her vertiginous hair, her big smile that made her memorable before her own songs. So watching her biopic "What's Got Love To Do With It?" (adapted from Turner's autobiographical book) was like witnessing the slow process that turned the vulnerable Anna Mae Bullock into the flamboyant Tina Turner. Yes, when the film ended, I was like "that's the Tina I know" ... but the 1993 biopic wasn't about that Tina, but about the one whose name was associated to another name (and if only it was just the name!)
Starring Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne in two Oscar-nominated roles, the film makes two contradictory statements: without Ike Turner there wouldn't be Tina and yet without him, she completed her transition. Let's collect the thoughts here: Ike discovered Tina during one of his concert in some small nightclub but Anna Mae was much willing to sing and gave such a spectacular performance that it was an audition rather than an exhibition. It's true that Ike saw the potential of Tina and took the best out of her and it's true that besides putting her on the track, he gave her some good songs and gave her the name but it's no less true that Tina had a few successes on her own, and that she came up with the wigs' ideas and that if it wasn't for her presence, who know whether Ike's career would have went further than 1965.
So that's the duality: Ike is convinced that he made Tina, that he owns her and she owes him. But all through the film, we see a woman whose natural vocal talent can be owed to anyone but her... except if she believes that she's beneath Ike, and Ike has arguments to make her believe that, arguments... and fists. So in an infuriating series of wife-beating and verbal abusing scenes, we witness the regression of Tina's ego while her talent blossoms to no extent. If anything, this is a film about someone who's got the talent but lacks the strength. The childhood episodes could feel like the usual 'humble beginning' requirements of any biopic but what they show is a little girl who's thrown away from a gospel choir because she doesn't have the right tempo and later abandoned by her mother (who took her sister).
The childhood episodes are crucial to understand her need for singing and the way she fell instantly for Ike: this is the man who believed in her potential and treated her even better than her mother (Jennifer Lewis) did when she finally joined her. But the mother who wanted Anna Mae to work as a nurse is quickly convinced by a smooth-talking Ike that singing is the right investment. It doesn't take long for Anna Mae to build a reputation and inspire the jealousy of Ike's 'favorite' and mother of two children. In a harrowing scene, the woman doesn't bother killing Anna Mae because she's not "worth the bullet". So much for self-esteem again. Inevitably, Anna surrenders to Ike when he laters admits his love. It's true he needs her but even truer is that she needed someone who'd need her. Both are actually insecure people with a need to be important but one's got no reasons to doubt about her.
"What's Got Love To Do With It?" isn't your typical musical biopic, and as if director Bryan Gibson was aware of it, he doesn't overflood us with singing montages or abundant press covers editing, this film is a couple study and could work as well as an inspiration for women suffering from marital bullying, the film even made it #85 in AFI's Top 100 Cheers (inspiring movies). I didn't mind the musical parts as much as I felt bad watching the vulnerability of Anna Mae and the growing self-centered vileness of Ike. Such films would instantly fail if it wasn't for the performances of the two leads but Basset is incredible, she can play passion and enthusiasm but always with that look in her eyes that hints at whether she's enjoying it or she's only working out of fear. As Ike, Fishburne plays a control freak who's despicable in the way he blames Anna to the point of gaslighting her, watching him is witnessing a slow descent into evil madness.
There are many key moments in the film and it's easy to start with the first beating or the first encounter with Buddhism where her soul salvation lied. But I spotted many subtle moments where I could identify when Anna Mae was in trouble: when the crowd kept shouting Tina and you could see Ike slowly moving in the shadow (he was getting the message) or another moment where after her first solo success with producer Phil Spector "River Deep Mountain High", he expressed his rage in the most outrageous way. You know at that point that love has nothing whatsoever to do with whatever Ike sees in Anna, and the film rightfully avoids the ocean of pathos and takes us immediately to the ten minutes during where we see Tina finally fighting back in the limo (I can imagine crowds cheering in the theaters) followed by her desperate escape to the Ramada Inn (and I could imagine her sleeping in foetal position and staying in her room for three days after that) and the court sequence where she gives up all royalties to keep up one asset that she needs to pursue her career: her name. At that point, Anna Mae acknowledges her own merit and we know she's changed.
And whether the last confrontation did happen or not is secondary, this is a film about a great talent that was trapped for too long in a jail made of one man's egomania and when Tina left Ike, I had the same cheering mind than when Billy escaped in "Midnight Express".
Starring Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne in two Oscar-nominated roles, the film makes two contradictory statements: without Ike Turner there wouldn't be Tina and yet without him, she completed her transition. Let's collect the thoughts here: Ike discovered Tina during one of his concert in some small nightclub but Anna Mae was much willing to sing and gave such a spectacular performance that it was an audition rather than an exhibition. It's true that Ike saw the potential of Tina and took the best out of her and it's true that besides putting her on the track, he gave her some good songs and gave her the name but it's no less true that Tina had a few successes on her own, and that she came up with the wigs' ideas and that if it wasn't for her presence, who know whether Ike's career would have went further than 1965.
So that's the duality: Ike is convinced that he made Tina, that he owns her and she owes him. But all through the film, we see a woman whose natural vocal talent can be owed to anyone but her... except if she believes that she's beneath Ike, and Ike has arguments to make her believe that, arguments... and fists. So in an infuriating series of wife-beating and verbal abusing scenes, we witness the regression of Tina's ego while her talent blossoms to no extent. If anything, this is a film about someone who's got the talent but lacks the strength. The childhood episodes could feel like the usual 'humble beginning' requirements of any biopic but what they show is a little girl who's thrown away from a gospel choir because she doesn't have the right tempo and later abandoned by her mother (who took her sister).
The childhood episodes are crucial to understand her need for singing and the way she fell instantly for Ike: this is the man who believed in her potential and treated her even better than her mother (Jennifer Lewis) did when she finally joined her. But the mother who wanted Anna Mae to work as a nurse is quickly convinced by a smooth-talking Ike that singing is the right investment. It doesn't take long for Anna Mae to build a reputation and inspire the jealousy of Ike's 'favorite' and mother of two children. In a harrowing scene, the woman doesn't bother killing Anna Mae because she's not "worth the bullet". So much for self-esteem again. Inevitably, Anna surrenders to Ike when he laters admits his love. It's true he needs her but even truer is that she needed someone who'd need her. Both are actually insecure people with a need to be important but one's got no reasons to doubt about her.
"What's Got Love To Do With It?" isn't your typical musical biopic, and as if director Bryan Gibson was aware of it, he doesn't overflood us with singing montages or abundant press covers editing, this film is a couple study and could work as well as an inspiration for women suffering from marital bullying, the film even made it #85 in AFI's Top 100 Cheers (inspiring movies). I didn't mind the musical parts as much as I felt bad watching the vulnerability of Anna Mae and the growing self-centered vileness of Ike. Such films would instantly fail if it wasn't for the performances of the two leads but Basset is incredible, she can play passion and enthusiasm but always with that look in her eyes that hints at whether she's enjoying it or she's only working out of fear. As Ike, Fishburne plays a control freak who's despicable in the way he blames Anna to the point of gaslighting her, watching him is witnessing a slow descent into evil madness.
There are many key moments in the film and it's easy to start with the first beating or the first encounter with Buddhism where her soul salvation lied. But I spotted many subtle moments where I could identify when Anna Mae was in trouble: when the crowd kept shouting Tina and you could see Ike slowly moving in the shadow (he was getting the message) or another moment where after her first solo success with producer Phil Spector "River Deep Mountain High", he expressed his rage in the most outrageous way. You know at that point that love has nothing whatsoever to do with whatever Ike sees in Anna, and the film rightfully avoids the ocean of pathos and takes us immediately to the ten minutes during where we see Tina finally fighting back in the limo (I can imagine crowds cheering in the theaters) followed by her desperate escape to the Ramada Inn (and I could imagine her sleeping in foetal position and staying in her room for three days after that) and the court sequence where she gives up all royalties to keep up one asset that she needs to pursue her career: her name. At that point, Anna Mae acknowledges her own merit and we know she's changed.
And whether the last confrontation did happen or not is secondary, this is a film about a great talent that was trapped for too long in a jail made of one man's egomania and when Tina left Ike, I had the same cheering mind than when Billy escaped in "Midnight Express".