In August of 1974 Philippe Petit and friends put in motion a plan to allow him to tightrope walk from one tower of the World Trade Center to the other. The new documentary Man on Wire describes what lead up to that crazy attempt and how it went down.
The Washington Post review by Ann Hornaday does a good job summing things up, so I’ll just add a few comments. First, the documentary can be fairly exciting because it tells the story of a caper using all the dramatic trappings of caper flicks. I love that sort of movie, and the removal of violence from the equation doesn’t make me enjoy it any less. They use a mix of recreations, original footage, and interviews to dramatize the whole story, I think the balance works pretty well although I wasn’t always sure what was original and what was recreated.
Most will know the outcome, but there’s still room for suspense about how it happened and what role all the supporting team played. The one thing the film doesn’t tell you is what everyone has been up to in the subsequent years. The ending gives a quick summary of how relationships were changed, but that’s about it.
I really can’t see myself taking part in something like this, just for the art and challenge of it. But I am glad the world has people that will.
Picture of an earlier wire walk from http://www.manonwire.com/
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