Philippe Petit, a French high-wire artist, saw pictures of plans for a proposed building in New York - the World Trade Center - in a magazine. He immediately fell in love with the idea of walking the space between the two towers. After a lot of planning, practice, and some slightly illegal activities, on August 7, 1974, with the World Trade Center built but some upper floors not completely finished, he did it.
Man On Wire is the story of Petit and his team of friends and assistants as they schemed to do the unimaginable. The film cuts between heist-like sequences of the group infiltrating the WTC and avoiding the various guards, to flashbacks of Petit's training and other achievements in tightrope walking like Paris' Notre Dame and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Petit and his friends give their experiences in their own words; it's difficult not to share Petit's enthusiasm, or agree with the sentiments of some of Petit's friends who, as it became apparent that he was actually going to walk a high wire a quarter of a mile high, decided they didn't want to be involved in what could potentially be the horrific death of their friend.
Of course, Petit lived to tell the tale, and that's what's so great about this film. Petit survived, but as we see grainy 8mm footage and photos of his walks it's difficult not to be extrmely concerned for the man's safety. Also, as a documentary film, it's got a good structure to it that really hooks you in to the story. Don't believe me? It currently stands as the all time #1 film on Rotten Tomatoes. And it's a documentary.
I really enjoyed Man On Wire and highly recommend it! If you're a fan of documentaries, this is required viewing. If not, see it anyway. Seriously.
1 comments:
i saw this film, it was a major snooze fest. having said that it was kind of informative.
signed
"sort of"
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