Man On Wire (2009)
THE SCOOP
Director: James Marsh
Plot: A look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artistic crime of the century."
Genre: Documentary / Crime
Awards: Won 1 Oscar - Best Documentary Feature.
Runtime: 94min
Rating: NC16 for some sexuality and nudity, and drug references.
IN RETROSPECT (Spoilers: N/A)
How do you explain someone as crazy as Philippe Petit? You don’t. You just accept the way he is. James Marsh’s remarkable documentary explores
the psyche and the controversial exploits of one of the world’s most incredible
daredevils.
Famous for his tight-rope walking feats across
architectural icons with only a balancing rod and without safety nets or
harnesses, Petit fulfilled his dream and did what everyone thought was
impossible on August 7, 1974. That
slightly misty morning at the top of New
York ’s World Trade Centre, Petit walked across a
tensioned rope connecting the twin towers, more than a hundred storeys above
ground and yes, with only a balancing rod and without safety nets.
Till this day, and it will remain so for centuries to come, Petit’s act remains unfathomable. It is something so mind-boggling that no one would ever think about it, let alone attempt it. Man On Wire reveals to us the behind-the-scenes that most of us would not care to know, the complexity of the plan, the crew members involved, and the painstaking effort everyone took to avoid security complications.
Till this day, and it will remain so for centuries to come, Petit’s act remains unfathomable. It is something so mind-boggling that no one would ever think about it, let alone attempt it. Man On Wire reveals to us the behind-the-scenes that most of us would not care to know, the complexity of the plan, the crew members involved, and the painstaking effort everyone took to avoid security complications.
This Oscar-winning film is not so much about Petit’s extraordinary
feats, but rather the struggles behind the dream to materialize them. Directed like a heist thriller,
Marsh re-creates the scenes leading up to the World Trade Centre using
black-and-white images and shadowy photography
with a set of actors playing the roles of key members of the ‘operation’.
These scenes are backed up by Petit’s energetic
recounting of the whole event. Of
course, Marsh falls short of re-creating the actual wirewalking act using CGI. Instead, a montage of still photos of Petit
committing the ‘artistic crime of the century’ is all that fills the gap. The effect is tremendous, as it leaves viewers
imagining how it would have felt to witness the event.
Man On Wire ultimately leaves us in an uplifting mood. Not only does seeing a fellow human achieve the impossible give us a heightened sense of admiration, it also quashes the rules that govern the limits of what is deemed to be humanly possible. Life should be lived on the edge. Petit takes this notion to extreme levels that can never be completely understood by his own kind. Ever.
Man On Wire ultimately leaves us in an uplifting mood. Not only does seeing a fellow human achieve the impossible give us a heightened sense of admiration, it also quashes the rules that govern the limits of what is deemed to be humanly possible. Life should be lived on the edge. Petit takes this notion to extreme levels that can never be completely understood by his own kind. Ever.
GRADE: A-
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