I, Tonya Is An Immensely Gripping Portrayal of A True Story
I, Tonya is a remarkably tragic and simultaneously comic interlude into the life of a misunderstood character. This intriguing postmodern tale of the Famous Us figure skater is sharp-witted, punchy and perfectly nuisances the line between satire and sympathy.
It’s a controversial biopic into the turbulent past of Tonya Harding — a figure skater that is famous for all the wrong reasons. Through its wild exploration of the events leading up to 1994 Olympic Games, where Nancy Kerrigan was mercilessly ambushed, it effortlessly captures the zeal of the underprivileged and wrongfully targeted working class by embedding Tonya as “a real person who never apologised for growing up poor and being a redneck.”
Tonya Harding, played by the astounding Margot Robbie, is an outsider from Portland who had a talent for figure skating and running her mouth off. Harding, who enrolled in figure skating at the age of four and eventually dropped out of school to pursue it, is presented as vehemently dedicated and displaying astonishing talent. She eventually went on to become the 1991 and 1994 U.S champion. However, she became entangled in controversy when at an Olympic qualifying event a man — who was later revealed to be hired by Tonya’s husband, Jeff Gillooly, and her body guard, Shawn Eckhardt — bashed in one of the knee caps of Nancy Kerrigan, Harding’s antithesis and fiercest competition. It was a massive media spectacle and ended with the imploding of Tonya’s career, so it is no wonder that the story continues to resonate with a modern audience.
Publicising itself as “irony free, wildly contradictory, totally true interviews with Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillooly”, it’s filtered from an array of conflicting narratives that recall the catastrophic events that made history. However, Margot Robbie takes centre stage in this bleak comedy drama with her original and plucky portrayal of this sporting personality, which defies conventions by being both loved and hated and a victim and villain. We never lose sight of Tonya’s tenacity and status as a fighter as she undergoes a series of abusive relationships and still manages to remain fearless. Yet, who can ignore the performance of Tonya’s mum, played by Oscar-winning Allison Janney, whose acid tongue is both shocking and amusing.
The soundtrack has been meticulously chosen to offer moments of comic relief during the more serious scenes and strikes a resonating cord with that of the Oscar nominated ‘Baby Driver’. One moment stands out in particular when the Bees Jees ‘how can you mend a broken heart’ plays as Tonya has just been shot by Jeff. It’s an event that should be deeply disturbing, but instead manages to have a humours effect. Despite this, it’s easy to pity Tonya because as someone who craves love and affection she instead settles for violence and cruelty.
But does it glamorise Tonya Harding’s misfortune and forget about the actual victim that is Nancy Kerrigan? Tonya’s involvement in the incident is still debated today, but producers leave it up to the audience to decide what actually happened.
All that can be said for sure is that, like the anticipated triple-axel jump, it doesn’t disappoint.
