MAN ON WIRE (2008)
Reviewed By Jerry Saravia
I used to live in New York City and was always petrified of the World Trade Center. I had walked through the lobby once but I never ascended to any of the 110 floors of these former capitalist towers. It had a lot to do with my fear of heights, I imagine, so I approached this documentary "Man on Wire" with a certain trepidation knowing it is about a man who walked on a wire suspended across the two towers. I had nothing to fear because "Man on Wire" is an exceptionally thrilling and wondrous documentary - a tale told with such vigor and with such breathless beauty, you'll be speechless for days, even months.
Philippe Petit is the famous French wire walker who managed to do something that no one has ever attempted, no less surpassed. On a slightly windy, cloudy day on August 7, 1974, Petit and a few people on his crew suspended a wire across the Two Towers so that Petit could walk across. Apparently, this was an early dream that took place in a dentist's office where he saw a magazine article on the future construction of these towering giants. All Petit knew was that he had to walk across them, like floating on air. Petit was already walking on wires suspended across the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Sydney Harbor Bridge and made a name for himself but the WTC is an incomparable and seemingly improbable stunt.
James Marsh's "Man on Wire" shows the dedication of its high-wire act and participant Petit, as he breaks down all the nooks and crannies of this stunt. How will they get into the WTC? What sort of disguises will they wear, and how do they acquire proper fake ID's? Most importantly, how in creation will they suspend this wire across these two towers that are diagonally parallel to each other? (A fact I had almost forgotten).
The movie is full of black-and-white footage that looks like it was cribbed from a 1970's heist movie - of course, it isn't but director Marsh does a stellar job of blending fake footage with real color footage shot by Petit and his then-girlfriend. As for the heist connection, the movie operates on the level of a high-stakes heist thriller though nothing is actually being stolen. Instead, something is being given - a gift for New Yorkers of someone literally walking in the clouds.
"Man on Wire" is not a normal documentary - it almost transcends the form. It is told with such panache that it seems more like a thriller, particularly in its detailing of the ins and outs of this grand wirewalking event. It also conveys the spirited mood and ambition of a young man eager to perform something so awe-inspiring, individualistic and so dangerous, it could only be done once. Some viewers have complained about Petit having a fling with some anonymous, adoring female fan while committed to his former girlfriend. That hardly matters in my mind because he was exalted by someone and took advantage. Philippe Petit was the rock star of the heavens.
