Notes/Questions
on What's Love Got to Do With It?
1992, dir. Brian Gibson
1. What were the opening and closing shots of
the film? Any ideas about why those
shots were chosen? What about the
parallelism between the opening and closing scenes?
2. Define the mood in the early scenes (St.
Louis arrival, club scenes, meeting Ike Turner, etc.). Compare that mood to the mood of later
scenes in the film. In a similar vein, what
was gained by the use of 8 mm home movies (some black and white, later some in
color)?
3. What is the basis of the relationship
between Tina and her mother? In what
way does Ike "figure out" Tina's mother? What were Mom's "blind spots" when it came to relating
to Tina? Can you recall a scene that
demonstrated clearly that Mom was not "there" for Tina when the
latter needed her?
4. Describe the shot that occurred after
Lorraine came into Tina's room (at Ike's house) and held the gun to her head,
said, "You ain't even worth it," and then went into her room and shot
herself. What made the use of that shot
special?
5. What are the keys to understanding Ike's
character? How is "rage" a
crucial ingredient in his emotional/psychological makeup? Where does that rage first appear? What causes it to flourish?
6. Note effective examples of editing in the
film:
--the movement of character in Tina's
number at the Apollo. Great close-ups
of her feet, legs, and medium shots of her upper body as she moves across the
stage. Explain how the editing and
movement complemented each other here.
--the first time we see Ike attack Tina
and beat her up. Separate the shots in
that track (girl friends by the pool, three boys in the hallway, Ike's and
Tina's reaction shots, the two in the frame together, use of movement, when he
drags her down hall or throws her onto floor in bedroom). Did you note the slow dissolve at the end to
show Tina in bed alone, Ike sneaking in, and his putting present on bed?
--when Ike throws a tantrum in the restaurant,
smears cake all over Tina, and punches Jackie.
--when Ike loses his temper at Tina, who
is trying to record "Nutbush City" in their home recording studio,
throws everyone out of the house, and then goes into the booth and rapes Tina.
--when Tina makes her escape from their
hotel, crosses a busy highway, and checks into the Ramada Inn by herself.
7. Did you notice Ike's changing costumes,
which began when they moved into their big house with the pool? How did the costumes add to the characterization
of Ike, the relationship between Ike and Tina, and to your understanding of the
social forces at work in that era?
8. Why was the KDSC interview (based on footage
from a real television interview) included in the film? Note the interviewer comments, "Ike, I
sense you don't feel fully appreciated here."
9. What are the forces that begin to undermine
the relationship between Ike and Tina?
Why didn't Tina leave Ike early on in the relationship=
10. What did Phil Spector's appearance in the
film (he saw her at the American Bandstand-type performance) represent to
Tina? Why didn't she use this occasion
as a time to leave Ike? Do you recall
the cut at the end of the recording session?
(to Ike and friends at the house, with Tina, listening to a tape of the
record).
11. The restaurant scene, where Ike smears cake
all over Tina, has the look and feel of the famous restaurant scene from Five
Easy Pieces (where Jack Nicholson pushed everything off the booth table onto
the floor). How was the
"rage" (enacted by Ike) different?
12. In what ways does the aquarium in their house
function as a symbol in the film?
Remember scene where she first tries to run away (via Greyhound)? She was filmed from behind the
aquarium. Later, when she was raped,
she was filmed from behind the aquarium.
Why the aquarium?
13. Explain why the "Proud Mary"
sequence could be called a montage. Why
does it flow naturally from the previous scene (when Ike stops her from leaving
with the kids) and how does it set up the scene that comes afterwards (Ike
rapes her in the recording studio at home).
14. What made the scene where Ike raped Tina so
effective? Consider editing, mise en
scene, internal sound (dialogue), visual symbols.
15. Why does Tina finally visit Jackie? During their visit, both women mock
Ike. Why is this an important turning
point for Tina? What "secret"
does Jackie possess, and why is Tina interested in sharing it? How was Tina's conversion to Buddhism a
means of helping her overcome her feelings of inferiority and submissiveness to
Ike? Note that she says in an interview
segment late in the film that Buddhism taught her, "If anything in you
needs to be changed, you change it."
16. What was effective about the scene in the
limo between Ike and Tina? Note the
tracking shot where Ike and Tina, both bloodied from their limo battle, walk
across the lobby to the registration desk at the hotel. Then when Tina is in their room, she looks
into the mirror. Why is this a
significant shot?
17. When Ike shows up with a gun backstage in New
York City (before the final scene), explain Tina's reaction to his intended
threat. "You can't get away from
me. You're in here!" he says
(pointing at his head). Why didn't that
threat work? In fact, her response
seems to intimidate him. Why?
Notes/Questions written
by Robert E. Yahnke
Professor, General College, Univ. of
Minnesota
Copyright by Robert E. Yahnke, ©
2001
Permission granted for reprinting for
educational use only