'I, Tonya' - story of the atypical heroine

I, Tonya tells a story of the infamous American skating figure of the 90’s, Tonya Harding. A biography of Tonya’s rise to the fame and downfall, following the incident of attacking rivalry skater to complete ban from performing any sorts of Olympic sports.

If you think about Tonya Harding, a heroine is not the first thing to come to your mind. She was one of the most prominent and famous female ice skaters of the 90’s. That was until the attack on Nancy Kerrigan happened, in which Harding was involved. After the incident happened, she was disqualified from the Olympics for the eternity. Harding continues to say to these date that she had no idea about the attack, and it was all her then boyfriend’s doing. So how come a movie that no one wanted to see became such a success?

Margot Robbie, the lead star, produced the film all by herself. She had to acquire the rights to tell the story on screen and gave us her finest performance to date. The young Australian actress, mostly known for playing Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad, de-glammed herself to resemble Harding.

From the opening scene, we see an interesting movie-making approach, ala documentary. Robbie as Harding lights up a cigarette and does not say a word. However, the attention in the scene goes to other characters, from Tonya’s mother to Tonya’s coach, they all talk about Harding. That documentary style is very frequent in the film, appearing every time characters do something significant for the story.

Robbie is fantastic. Not only she is playing at one time the most hated character in America, but she even manages to do something nearly impossible, she makes the audience sympathize a little with such an unlikeable character. She adds a lot of depth and understanding to Harding’s character. Robbie lets herself get lost in the character and shows Harding’s vulnerabilities. What we see on screen is not just ‘an evil bitch’, but a full dimensional portrayal of a damaged woman.

Alison Janney, who plays Harding’s mother steals every scene she appears in. Her character is one of the best villains that graced our movie screens in 2017. Playing such an evil character is sometimes tricky. Janney does that without seeming a caricature, even with a heavy transformation and make up that she had for a role. Tonya blames her mother for a lot of bad things in her life, often describing her as a monster. Janney sinks her teeth in this villainous character and delivers tour-de-force performance, clearly enjoying herself. For her portrayal, the actress won Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

I, Tonya worked on some many levels, from intelligent direction to the smart script. Craig Gillespie is objectively one of the most intriguing independent directors, previously he helmed Lars and the Real Girl, or TV Show United States of Tara. His directing technique worked in this film perfectly, giving this small flick real independent, almost niche vibe. The script was written loosely based on the documentaries that featured Harding, her mother, her boyfriend and many other people, so the characters were carefully studied to be the most realistic versions of these people.

Costumes fantastically represented 90’s in which the action of the film was taking place in. The choice of music was rather interesting, mostly used in the scenes of ice skating. However, one of the strongest aspects of the movie was the flashy editing, which (along two actresses – Robbie, and Janney) was nominated for an Oscar. It was skillful and extremely showy. The scenes were jumping in between the current action of the movie, and those documentary style of commentaries.

I, Tonya, essentially a film that no one asked for, but will thank for. Harding is still one of the most hated woman in America, but as there are two sides of every story, we got to see the new light that was shed on this damaged woman. People who enjoy watching independent American cinema will most likely enjoy this one. One of the greatest movie surprises of the year.

5/5

#itonya #margotrobbie #allisonjanney #sebastianstan #bobbycannvale #juliannenicholson