I, Tonya is a Film About Mirrors
How does Craig Gillespie frame reflection?
This is one scene from a film that’s two hours long. How could the film possibly be about mirrors? Well, director, Mike Nichols, once said, “Great film is often about something…and something else,” and I, Tonya is a great film.
Ever since I heard Nichols’ summation of film, my entire thought process towards movies has been recontextualized. While it’s easy to only see I, Tonya as a biopic about a misunderstood ice skater, we’d be remiss to not identify the complementary story that it’s visuals reveal.
In almost every scene off the ice, Tonya becomes a heavy bag, the subject of a beating — physical and verbal. Most blunt is the physical abuse from her mother and husband, Jeff. Violence is so rampant and casual that they blend together throughout the film. Tonya even finishes her athletic career as a boxer. Together the abuse provides an ironic mirror onto the attack on Kerrigan. Having said that, much of the film is about reflection. Sometimes literal reflection with physical mirrors, and also figurative with the heavy use of violence.
