Despite her astounding artistic achievements, both Tina Turner’s personal triumph and her status as a feminist hero have a largely non-musical basis; And so much so that some of the most famous songs of her career—titles like ‘Proud Mary’ or ‘Nutbush City limits’, ‘What love has to do’ or ‘(Simply) the best’ – they sound more like autobiographical pieces of the music of a life than just pieces of a repertoire. Yes, Turner was the first woman—at 45—to join the club of masculine rock stars, and that meant decline for nearly all women in the union; and she sold nearly 200 million records without having to write her own songs, but appropriating those written by others with provocative authority. But her cat-like voice and stage presence—electric wigs, very short skirts and very long heels, dance steps typical of a trance— rock’s image of power and lustthey are also inseparable The epic story of surviving abuse and violence.
“I was systematically tortured and died, but I got over it,” says the singer at the beginning of the out-of-competition documentary ‘Tina’ at the Berlinale. Coming from both an ‘ad hoc’ interview and an interview she gave to ‘People’ magazine in 1981, she was mainly quoted in her own words – she spoke for the first time of her ordeal – The film offers a comprehensive examination of life, punctuated by abundant musical breaks and marked by the eerie and pathetic presence of Ike Turner.
He was only 17 when he attended an Ike and Kings of Rhythm concert and managed to get the band leader to play his song. Soon after, “Tina” remembers that she had already married him, changed her name – the original was Anna Mae Bullock – and shaped her image to present her on stage as a ferocious beast. Since The Ike and Tina Turner Revue released A Fool In Love (1960), this young woman has taken the music scene by storm, not just her vocals that combined the emotional power of blues queens like Bessie Smith and Big Mama Thornton with the electrification of rock. ‘n’roll, but also in the way he moves on stage – often flanked by the band’s backup singers, Ikettes – that breaks with the rigidity of the choreographies popularized by Motown. In public, Tina seemed to banish her torment in private.
“She brainwashed me,” the singer admits at one point in the movie, and recalls her husband consoling her right after he took one of his beatings. covered in blood, fear and guilt. Throughout the footage, episodes are also remembered in which Ike broke his nose while raping her, threw hot coffee in her face, or punished her with a hanger and shoehorn. There is also talk of a suicide attempt in 1968 by swallowing 50 Valium.
a sadist
Meanwhile, yes, ‘Tina’ eschews the line and admits that Ike Turner is not only an irresistible sadist, but also a pioneer who hardly gets the credit he deserves; In fact, many historians owe him the authorship of ‘Rocket 88’ (1951), which is considered the first rock’n’roll album, although singer Jackie Brenston signed it. The movie portrays him as a tormentor because his virtues are always attributed to others. including his wife; It’s almost easy to watch her during the recording of her monumental anthem ‘River Deep, Mountain High’ (1966) and watch producer Phil Spector, another famous lowly, put her aside and focus on Tina’s voice, empathizing with her. The couple separated in 1976. After the final beating, he fled without looking back, with his face made of Jesus and 36 cents in his pocket. After releasing a few records in the early ’80s that no one bought, his career seemed to be over. And then, thanks to ‘Private Dancer’ (1984), the world fell at his feet. This album brought with it awards, concerts in big stadiums, her unforgettable role as the villain in ‘Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome’ (1985) and her love story with her current husband, music executive Erwin Bach. But none of that frightened the two ghosts that haunted her all this time: her husband—who died two years ago—and her mother, who was also suffering, whom the press kept asking her until she retired in 2009. that her husband did his business badly and left the house while their daughter was angry. As she admits between sobs in the movie, Turner has never felt loved by her, and this isn’t the first time she’s mentioned it. In fact, everything described here has already been told in three of the singer’s autobiographies, the ‘biopic’ ‘Tina’ (1993) and the musical show of the same name (2018), and toured cinemas in various cities. World. And this not only limits its documentary value, especially given how little it has contributed on an official level, but also invites some to question Turner’s motives. On the other hand, whatever He earned the right to talk about his life as much as he wanted..
Competition: Hong Sangsoo, no more or less
Hong Sangsoo’s fifth film, ‘Intro’, competing at the Berlinale, runs as a brief example of pretty much everything that makes up the Korean way, such as disturbing conversations, excessive alcohol and tobacco consumption, sudden ‘zooms’, repetition of dialogues. and situations—and therefore will reaffirm the motives of both its followers and those who oppose it.
On the other hand, French Xavier Beauvois’ new film ‘Albatross’ will undoubtedly create more consensus thanks to the balance between the psychological work, family drama and social portrait he established while contemplating a provincial gendarme who witnessed the events. the sudden collapse of her life.. And the award-nominated Hungarian film ‘Natural Light’ can be described as a reinterpretation of ‘The Thin Red Line’ (1999), yes, the model’s lyricism is additional doses of mud and despair. .