Press Conference: “Tyson”

American director James Toback and ex-heavyweight champ Mike Tyson, in Cannes to present Toback’s documentary Tyson at Un Certain Regard, met the press today. Highlights follow:

On how the project was born:
James Toback:
“Mike and I have had a lot of intimate and unusual conversations over the years, and I felt many of them would have made very interesting documents of dramatic revelations of psyche – my own, for that matter, as well as his. We have an obsession, or at least a strong interest, in many of the same subjects… We both kind of moved ahead, not knowing where it would go. As Mike has said a couple of times, his idea was that perhaps it would be a DVD that would be sold on a street corner at 125th Street for cash. My idea was that it would be in competition and win the Palme d’Or. So we were coming from different places. There was never any question that it wouldn’t be a truthful document, an exploration, not just of Mike, but of the scenes and subjects that his fascinating and complicated life raises.”
Mike Tyson:
“I’ve known Mr. Toback for over twenty years, and we spoke on many occasions. He gave me bit parts in some of his movies before, but he never discussed making a documentary about me. One day, he happened to call me, and I was game for the project… I was in rehab, anyway. I wasn’t going anywhere. It’s not like I was going anywhere, or doing anything… James Toback convinced me.”

James Toback, asked why no one besides Mike Tyson is interviewed:
“My suspicion was, and, indeed, it turned out to be true, that there would be some documentary footage, clips from other interviews, and obviously, a lot of fight footage. But what was really interesting was not what people had to say about Mike, but to see into Mike: to look at his face, listen to his voice, and find an interesting and visually arresting way of presenting that to the world and posterity. Ultimately, who cares what any number of people who have written about Mike Tyson, or talked about him, say. It’s an opinion, and not one that has an iota as much interest as listening to Mike and watching Mike. So I just thought, why clutter up the chance of a lifetime to do a riveting portrait of a riveting figure by introducing a lot of third-rate garbage?”

James Toback, on why he chose Mike Tyson as a subject:
“I’ve been obsessed with boxing since I was four or five years old, and my grandfather used to take me to fights. In fact, I’ve fought myself, in a sort of misguided attempt to see if I could ever last with someone who was good, more than thirty seconds. I found Mike to be light years more interesting than any of the others, more articulate, and symbolically more significant, because there is an iconographic status that Mike has achieved. Do you remember that three-minute montage in the beginning of the film? You cannot put together anything approaching that, about any other fighter.”

Mike Tyson on how he analyzes his life:
“I’ve always analyzed my life, since I was able to analyze, period. I’ve always been pretty objective about myself, always been a harsh critic about myself, because I’ve been taught that since I was a young kid and got involved with my boxing trainer.”

James Toback on Emir Kusturica and his documentary Maradona, the soccer pro:
“I’m actually a huge fan of Kusturica, because he loved Fingers, and whenever I hear a director loved Fingers, his work immediately elevates itself into the realm of the highest plateau. Unfortunately, I’m a soccer retard, but Maradona is one of the few figures I’ve been aware of, and I’m certainly looking forward to seeing the movie.”