Man on Wire

I was lured into seeing this film by my teenage son, who is a circus acrobat by genetic conviction as surely as Philippe Petit was a high-wire walker and as I am a musician. I would never have entered the theater if I'd known what I'd be seeing. I have a pathologically empathetic response to films. When I was a little kid, I used to shout out warnings to Tweetie Bird when the cat got near. During fight scenes, my whole body twitches and my wife gets nervous for the safety of the unsuspecting head in front of me. I'm a climber in real life. I've been to the summit of Annapurna. But my blood pressure rises and I tremble with acrophobia at Hollywood simulations of climbing. This film Man on Wire took two years off my life, I'm sure. It's that intense, with its coy intersplicing of still photos and super-eight footage of Petit in mid-air and lovely slow talking-head interviews of Petit and his accomplices, years later, clearly establishing that they all survived to tell the tale.

Those interviews of middle-aged daredevils, reminiscing about their greatest caper, were as intense for me as the dodgy accomplishment of the adventure. It was literally the end of a love affair with life for all of them, something "too hot not to cool down," an overture too overwhelming to be followed by a mere opera. When Petit's boyhood friend broke down in tears at the waning of their friendship, when Petit's wife-the-love-of-his-life felt the reality that his life no longer needed hers, the whole social cost of Petit's obsession moved me also almost to tears. Hey, I might have cried if my heart had slowed down to twice normal. I felt an urge to grab my son and hug or shake him, saying "don't let your art be more to you than your life."

There's more to this film than a mere victimless heist thriller.

A MUST-SEE FILM, simply an inspiring, amazing masterpiece. ALSO READ PHILIPPE'S WONDERFUL BOOK; his story transcends words and transports you to a place of rare passion, beauty and possibility. Soaring! I remember this story just after it appeared in the New York Times back in 1974 and filed it away in my mind, wondering when the whole story might be told by the man who did it. Thank you Philippe for sharing your story with us in your own time. I look forward to meeting you some day... Highest regards (no pun intended), Matthew Cross, [......]

"I observed the tightrope 'dancer'--because you couldn't call him a 'walker'--approximately halfway between the two towers. And upon seeing us he started to smile and laugh and he started going into a dancing routine on the high wire . . . And when he got to the building we asked him to get off the high wire but instead he turned around and ran back out into the middle . . . He was bouncing up and down. His feet were actually leaving the wire and then he would resettle back on the wire again . . . Unbelievable really . . . everybody was spellbound in the watching of it."-- NYC Police Sergeant, Charles Daniels.

Directed by James Marsh (known for his cult film, Wisconsin Death Trip), Man on Wire is an inspirational documentary about Philippe Petit's daring high-wire walk between the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York. It has since been called "the artistic crime of the century." Petit, who was 24 years old at the time, is a French high-wire artist (a "funambule") and Paris street juggler who made history by walking (illegally) between the Twin Towers on August 7, 1974 without a net. In the course of his half-hour walk, Petit sat on the wire, gave a knee salute and, while lying on the wire, spoke with a gull circling his head. (While the Twin Tower walk now defines him, Petit has also made tightrope walks using the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Louisiana Superdome, the Hennepin County Government Center, and the Eiffel Tower. He also juggles for children in Central Park.) Why did he do it? "L'art pour l'art," Petit explains, art for art's sake. Marsh describes his film as a heist movie (a "rififi") about Petit's "incredibly beautiful" "coup." The breathtaking film features a soundtrack drawn from the Michael Nyman album, Nyman/Greenaway Revisited, which seems as though it were written for the film. Marsh's film will appeal to the children, clowns, magicians, athletes, and dancers in all of us.

G. Merritt

I saw this movie in a local theater about a month ago and I can't stop thinking about it. It's a good, well constructed documentary film that uses some recreated scenes as well as current interviews and period film and photos. The story of how Phillipe Petit planned and executed a tightrope walk between the twin towers is laid bare. 1350 feet in the air, 200 feet across. It was hard to believe even as I watched it. It seemed inspiring and insane all at once. I don't know if he's courageous or crazy but I suspect the answer is both.

If this movie sounds the least bit interesting to you, go ahead and get it. You won't be disappointed. If I hadn't seen it on the last night of it's run at the theater I might have gone more than once.

This BBC documentary tells the story of how on August 4, 1974 Philippe Petit (b. 1949) danced, sat, knelt and lay down on a tight rope that was strung between the two towers of the World Trade Center. The stunt lasted 45 minutes, during which time he traversed the cable eight times. Since we know when the film begins where it will end and what it's about, the plot consists of retelling the secret logistics, dumb luck, and extraordinary skill of the team that Petit assembled. The directors incorporate archival footage, still photos, re-enactments, and lengthy interviews with the team members. As is fitting, Petit himself narrates most of his own story. Why did he do it? That, he says, is a quintessentially American question. Bravery and skill, yes, but also joy and beauty. And how did they secure the 450-pound cable 200 feet between the two towers? Watch this fascinating film, which is based on Petit's book To Reach the Clouds (2002).