25/05/2023
In 1984, Tina Turner was basking in the glow of a stunning resurgence. Her comeback album, âPrivate Dancerâ, dropped in May and was a gigantic commercial success â a triple-Grammy winner selling 10 million copies worldwide. The former R&B singer had reinvented herself as the queen of rock and roll, and the triumphant revival in her fortunes led to Hollywood calling. One of the first to drop her a line was Steven Spielberg, who asked if sheâd take the lead in his forthcoming adaptation of Alice Walkerâs novel, The Color Purple. She turned it down flat. Too depressing. It was like reliving her troubled life with ex-husband and ex-music partner Ike Turner all over again, she explained.Another tantalising offer had come in, anyway. This time, from Down Under. George Miller, director of the box office-smashing, post-apocalyptic Mad Max films, was concluding the saga and auditioned Turner to play the villain. Not only did he ask her to portray Mad Max Beyond Thunderdomeâs big bad, Aunty Entity, but he and co-writer Terry Hayes had written the part specifically for Turner. Miller had watched an interview on British television and was captivated by her positive image and charisma. Pop stars crossing over to the movies was nothing new and there was a boom occurring on this front in the 1980s (David Bowie in Labyrinth, Cherâs Oscar-winning turn for Moonstruck). Nevertheless, it was certainly rare enough for such a pivotal role, an action antiheroine, to be offered to a 40-something African American woman with little acting experience. Sheâd appeared in Ken Russellâs 1975 rock opera, Tommy, as the Acid Queen, but such a part was firmly in her wheelhouse and nowhere near as demanding as co-headlining a blockbuster.We hear Turner before we see her on screen. She recorded two songs as tie-ins: the power ballad âWe Donât Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)â and âOne of the Livingâ. It is the latter which plays over the
opening credits, announcing to audiences a different level of energy for the threequel; a more commercial, less abrasive mood. Penned by Graham Lyle and Terry Britten, âWe Donât Need Another Heroâ was released just before the filmâs release in July 1985 and became a hit worldwide and a firm fixture in Turnerâs live repertoire. The songwriters went on to pick up an Ivor Novello prize for their composition, while the rockier âOne of the Livingâ, penned by Holly Knight, though it didnât chart as highly, won Turner a 1986 Grammy (Best Female Rock Vocal Performance).place in Bartertown, a former mine turned trading outpost deep in the Wasteland, built by Aunty Entity from the ashes of the old world. She lives in an elevated penthouse palace, a kind of Glastonbury glamping yurt sat on stilts offering a 360 degree panorama of her territory, the structure made of salvaged wood and decorated with billowing white sheets. The wave-like roofing cleverly aludes to the Sydney Opera House. Aunty rebuilt this slice of civilisation after apocalyptic events and demonstrates she is a special kind of warrior woman. She has to be, for men to readily follow her leadership and maintain their loyalty. Aunty rules through reason and persuasion, not fear. Sheâs no Immortan Joe from Fury Road. She is intelligent, fair-minded, but ruthless when necessary. Bartertown means everything.âIâll do anything to protect it,â she tells Max (Mel Gibson).Aunty cuts a formidable figure, thanks to Norma Moriceauâs eye-catching costume design and the big, blonde wig the star sported (she had to shave her head so the hairpiece would fit properly, and did so without complaint or demanding more money.) She looks like an Amazonian goddess on screen, despite being only 5ââ4â in real life. The snazzy chainmail dress, which weighed 70 pounds, was made from an assortment of soldered materials â dog muzzles, butcher aprons and chicken wire, the ensemble completed by chunky spring coil earrings. It is properly iconic, as iconic as Maxâs leathers, boasting hints of popinjay rock-royalty bling, Afrofuturism and medieval influences.Turner was also itching to do stuntwork, which Miller was uneasy about, initially. She did, however, end up driving her own vehicle in a few sequences, the production team having to convert the behemoth to automatic, as Turner couldnât drive manual. On her overall performance in the film, she was sweetly modest during promotional rounds. She liked certain scenes and was slightly critical of others, believing overall that sheâd done a good job.Beyond Thunderdome, importantly, captured Tina Turner on film at a great time in her life. Like Aunty Entity, she was a survivor and a person looking ahead not back. In the characterâs introductory scene, the Do******ix of Bartertown briefly details to Max how Entity was a nobody who became a somebody. âSo much for history,â she quips to the laconic outlaw, clearly not wanting to dwell too much on the past. Itâs a fleeting yet poignant line of dialogue, where Tina Turner and Aunty Entity truly combine.
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome - Bust a Deal, Face the Wheel: When Max (Mel Gibson) tries to leave Thunderdome, Aunt Entity (Tina Turner) declares that the law w...