Tyson

Text: Alex Serafini


If you’re looking for a balanced and factual recount of the career of Mike Tyson look elsewhere. James Toback’s documentary Tyson is told entirely from Iron Mike’s point of view but coupled with archival footage it becomes clear that he’s far from a reliable narrator, brutally honest as he is. Constantly confounding us with his eerie self awareness and contradictory statements, he’s as much at war with himself as he was with any of the opponents he destroyed in his prime and he knows it, even his soft, lisping voice seems to be at odds with his tattooed and scarred face. He appears sensitive at times – when recounting his experience of early marriage he states delicately “we were just kids” – and terrifying at others, he tells a reporter that he’s going to “Fuck you in the ass till you love me faggot”. An insightful comment is followed up by a ridiculous one, particularly when he talks about women.

Toback overlaps images and dialogue creating the impression of competing voices in Tyson’s head. All of the stuff that makes him notorious is here, his failed marriage, the rape charge (which he still denies), the biting incident. But so is the almost cliche story of a kid from the ghetto who learns to fight to ward off the bullies, and is given his chance by trainer Cus D’amato to “devastate the world.” It’s interesting that what made Tyson probably the most feared boxer of all time was his own fear, and the murderous rage that grew from it. Tyson gives an account of his first fight when his pet pigeon is killed by a bully and he reacts, recalling the moment when no one was going to try to beat him up again, Tyson struggles for breath as he says, “because I would fuckn’ kill em.” At one stage in the film he explains his technique of imagining his fists coming through the back of the head of his opponents. It’s fascinating to see the proclaimed ‘baddest man in the world’ lay it all out on the line. As the film progresses it becomes clear that Tyson is not someone we can ever hope to understand. While we may not be as sympathetic as his director, it’s hard not to feel a little sorry for him and his inevitable downfall even with the self-pity and delusion. I’m not sure whether I believe everything Tyson says and I’m not sure he does either.

Tyson is showing nationally from August 6