As gripping as the best caper films, and as fascinating as the best fiction screenplays, Man on Wire is one of the best films of the year, documentary or otherwise. It’s a brilliant and beautiful piece of filmmaking that’s worthy of the incredible feat it tells of, and in many ways, just like feat it's vibrant, whimsical and stunning.
On August 7, 1974, a mischievous imp of a Frenchman, Philippe Petit, stunned New Yorkers by spending close to an hour atop a wire stretched between the two towers of the World Trade Center. Not content to be a mere tightrope walker, Petit traversed the distance back and forth, back and forth with the ease and grace of a ballet dancer –- a ballet dancer 1,300 feet in the air.
Obviously, Petit’s journey across the sky was thoroughly illegal, making its preparation all the more intriguing. Man on Wire combines Petit’s personal footage with imaginative reenactments to tell the story of how Petit and his motley crew snuck the necessary equipment, which included 200 feet of cable, to the top floor of both towers.
Because the towers had recently opened, and construction was still ongoing, Petit and his helpers disguised themselves as workmen, acquired some fake IDs from a crony working for the Department of Insurance, and once at the top, very discreetly strung a heavy-duty cable from one tower to the other via an initial bow and arrow shot, followed by successive transfers of heavier and heavier rope.
Around the break of morning, Petit stepped out onto the wire. The still photos of his black-clad figure against the New York dawn are stunning –- both dangerous and beautiful. He managed to elude the outstretched arms of police easily. After all, who was going to go out there and get him? Not until a helicopter was brought in to scoop Petit off his perch did he acquiesce and allow himself to be taken into custody.
Article comments