USA
2008 - 90min - Dir: James Toback

Tyson is acclaimed indie director Toback's stylistically inventive portrait of the mesmerizing baddest boy of boxing and undisputed heavyweight champion of all time, Mike Tyson.

Toback allows an ungloved Tyson to reveal himself without inhibition and with eloquence and a pervasive vulnerability.

Through a mixture of original interviews and archival footage and photographs, a startlingly complex, fully-rounded human being emerges. The film ranges from Tyson's earliest memories of growing up on the mean streets of Brooklyn through his entry into the world of boxing, to his rollercoaster ride in the funhouse of worldwide fame and fortunes won and lost.

It is the story of a legendary and uniquely controversial international athletic icon, a figure conjuring radical questions of race and class. In its depiction of a man rising from the most debased circumstances to unlimited heights, destroyed by his own hubris, Tyson emerges as a modern day version of classic Greek tragedy. Courtesy of VideoVision

AWARDS
Cannes 2008 - Regard Knockout Award