In this blockbuster HBO documentary, Tina Turner’s life and career come off the screen with her hip-shaking, volcanic energy. Making extensive use of the wealth of archival footage from a half-century-long stage presence — much of which sees Tina garlanded in sequins and stomping on those famous dancers’ legs — it’s hard not to be drawn in by the sheer joyousness of her presence. But for a long time, joy was not a part of the equation for the mega-talented Tina, and it took her into middle age to reclaim it.
For 16 years, she was married to her creative partner Ike Turner, who is known to have been monstrously abusive and controlling, with Tina admitting at times that the relationship was akin to “torture”. It’s difficult not to look at the countless images of the couple together, even at the height of their creative powers (‘Proud Mary’ among them), and see the chillingly predatory look in Ike’s eyes. The film gives ample time to this period in her life, revealing just how filled the music industry was by dangerous men: ironically, one of the only bursts of creative freedom Tina would get happened when another abusive musical genius — Phil Spector, who was convicted for murder in 2003 — paid Ike to stay away from their recording sessions. Strung between pillar and post, Tina recorded ‘River Deep, Mountain High’.
But Tina, made with loving care by directors Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin, is as much about the singer’s triumphs as her difficulties, and it avoids sensationalising any aspects of her life, instead sharing snippets from her interviews over the years where journalists have shown ignorance and insensitivity toward her experiences, and endeavouring to give as much attention to her latter-day career than her married years.
You can’t help but wish happiness for a woman who has been so doggedly beset by troubles, particularly given her incredible resilience. She worked to get a happy ending, and got it: she came to dominate popular music in the 1980s, filling stadiums with fans and having an Academy Award-nominated film made about her life in 1993. Now 81 years old, she has made as much peace as is possible with the trauma of her youth, and has been with her current husband for over 30 years. Her exemplary lemons-to-lemonade life story is a beacon of strength for domestic abuse survivors — and that unmistakable husky voice signifies a life that has been very thoroughly lived.