《泰森》：“擊”情歲月

我一直都相信世上沒有“絕對的圣人”或“十足的惡棍”。2009年4月在美國上演的紀錄片《泰森》向公眾講述了美國著名拳擊手邁克·泰森——一個被視作“野獸”的男人一些不為人知的故事，也還了世界一個真實的泰森——他黯淡的童年，他焦躁的青春期，他輝煌的拳壇生涯，他奢靡的私生活，他的暴戾，他的孤獨還有他的善良……影片沒有為泰森套上“圣人”的光環，抑或“惡棍”的罵名，而是像一雙手輕輕地撫慰片中的主角;又像一個寬容的局外人，敘述一段有血有淚的悲情往事……

——Mac

Tyson is our deepest， most intimate encounter yet with Mike Tyson—a guided tour through his2)checkered life with the former 3)prizefighter acting as his own 4)narrator. With the filmmaker， James Toback， the famous and at times infamous Tyson gets to tell his complicated， uneasy life story his way. But though this movie tells us much about Tyson， it reveals infinitely more about our own internal contradictions.

We also destroy the things we love， repeat mistakes and dance like 5)Muhammad Ali around the truth in our most 6)candid moments. It’s just that Tyson does it more 7)spectacularly—or8)disastrously than most.

Caught in the 9)primeval glare of a man who admits he’d visualize punching holes through his opponent’s heads， we’re 10)riveted. This is our one-on-one with the 11)Minotaur， the monster， Iron Mike. But as Tyson spills everything beyond the camera， he becomes inconveniently human. And that’s what makes James Toback’s film so powerful. We’re as moved as we are appalled.

We 12)feel for the shy， 13)asthmatic kid who was robbed and beaten up in the 14)mean streets of Brooklyn. We tear up at his account of Cus D’Amato， the 15)hard-bitten， 16)soft-centered coach who took him out of 17)juvie and into the 18)ring. D’Amato turned him pro. Gave him self-esteem. But never lived to see Tyson become world champion at 20. Who could not be moved at the way Tyson 19)stifles sobs as he tells this story?

Yet， what do we do with the Tyson who served three years in jail for the rape of Desiree Washington? (He calls her a “20)wretched 21)swine of a woman.”) Who chewed off a portion of 22)Evander Holyfield’s ear in that infamous 23)title 24)bout? (Holyfield 25)head-butted him illegally， so he got mad. He 26)blacked out， too.) Who claims he was 27)burning up with 28)gonorrhea—after a 29)liaison with a 30)hooker—when he won the 31)WBC title? And what are we to 32)make of this utterance: “My insanity is my only sanity” ?

This man’s a nightmare when the mood hits.

Toback is clearly in Tyson’s camp. The only negative 33)testimony from the 34)aggrieved women in his life amounts to a 35)Barbara Walters interview in which then-wife Robin Givens describes Tyson as manic， depressive， abusive， scary. (“I can’t believe Robin Givens was saying all those lies about me.” Tyson says.)

As for Tyson’s 36)indiscretions， assaults and 37)imbroglios， we’re to see them as part of a redemptive arc. Tyson’s been lost ever since his beloved mentor passed away， forever 38)slithering on the 39)slippery slope between his best and worst impulses. Hence the downward 40)spiral of 41)predatory 42)womanizing， drug and drink 43)binges and 44)licentious spending. Hence his inevitable losses and stumbles. Hence everything. He’s turning things around. Proud father of six kids. Looks forward to a grandchild. Toback slices and stylizes these bits in his own way， inserting 45)archival 46)footage from the ring and combining 47)split-screen images of the subject’s 48)hulking presence with audio track that overlaps and repeats Tyson’s 49)intermittently self-aware words.

We want to believe Tyson has 50)come to terms with his mistakes; that he’s a changed man. What we get， instead， is a distressing glimpse into the soul of a haunted， angry， bitter man whose inability to truly grasp his role in the equation of his mistakes has caused 51)untold tragedy to himself and many around him. For all his 52)candor， 53)lurid honesty and tortured self-analysis， Tyson reveals only one thing: There are few things more54)fraught with 55)myopia than our own reckoning of ourselves.

And as he mentions his rising debts over and over again， we wonder: Did he recently arrive at this moral 56)epiphany in his life， or does this 57)art-house howl of the heart help the debt-strapped former heavyweight in other ways? Tyson draws no conclusion about the former heavyweight champion who’s as famous for his 1992 rape conviction， except that he’s a 58)potent puncher and a damaged man.

Attached to our negative impressions， however， there’s always a 59)nagging 60)asterisk. We realize this movie isn’t about the redemption of Mike Tyson. It’s about his 61)incontestable hopelessness—an extreme version of our own. Tyson remains as62)poignantly human as he is mortifying. He affects us， despite everything.

影片《泰森》讓我們前所未有地走近邁克·泰森，深入了解他。片中，這位前職業拳擊手親自擔當旁白者，帶我們回顧他迂回的人生路程。與制片人詹姆斯·托拜克合作，這位聞名遐邇也曾一度臭名昭著的拳王泰森得以用他的方式講述他復雜而曲折的一生。然而，盡管這部片子告訴了我們很多關于泰森的事，但其實它更多地反映出我們每個人內心的矛盾面。

我們也毀壞我們珍愛的東西，重蹈覆轍，就是在最真我的時刻也像拳王穆罕默德·阿里那樣還繞著真相躲閃。泰森只是做得更極端——或者是說比大多數人都做得更慘烈。

他承認自己曾想象用鐵拳打穿對手的腦袋，他那怒目中閃現的原始的沖動震懾了我們。這是我們與“人身牛頭怪”、“巨獸”、“鐵人邁克” (編者注:這三個都是泰森的外號)的一對一接觸。但當泰森于鏡頭外傾吐一切時，他人性的一面才好不容易顯露出來。而這正是詹姆 斯·托拜克的電影其震撼所在。