Reviews page
Man on Wire - 2008
The interviews with Petit's friends, ex-girlfriend and the man himself create a picture of an extraordinary character whose passion for wire-walking has dictated his life and whose burning ambition to cross the Twin Towers became an obsession that overshadowed everything else, even his fear of death. The interviews with Petit are hugely enjoyable because his enthusiasm has not dimmed in the intervening 34 years; he recounts his feelings and the details of the plan with glee and fervour, but it's the interviews with his friends that are perhaps the most illuminating. Their accounts give an impression of a man so obsessed with his goal that his selfishness impacted negatively on his relationships with others.
Petit's first two major wire-walks - Notre Dame and the Sydney Harbour Bridge - are illustrated by incredible footage of him walking across what looks like thin air, sitting and even laying on the wire while pedestrians look on in wonder and policemen have to clear the streets below him. He used no safety harness and no nets. All that stood between Petit and certain death was a balancing pole and his own skill. As amazing as these achievements were, they only set the scene for the main event, and our protagonists' descriptions of the Twin Towers stunt make for tense viewing. Even though Petit is there talking about his triumph, the scale of the challenge and the obstacles the team faced create a sense of danger and unpredictability, and we have to keep reminding ourselves that Petit did achieve his goal.
In what has been described as "the artistic crime of the century", Philippe Petit stepped out onto that wire 1,350 feet in the air, and as the crowd grew below and policemen waited on both buildings to arrest him, he spent 45 minutes on the wire and crossed it eight times, pausing occasionally to sit down and admire the view. It's just astounding to watch, especially when we see a picture of the ground from the top of one of the towers. Seeing a man - a very special man, but a flesh and blood human nonetheless - cross the gaping chasm between those buildings on just a steel cable is something you will not forget. Though James Marsh's documentary is well-made and uses a clever mix of interviews, photos, archive footage and reconstructions to tell the story, it's the stunt itself and the remarkable man who did it that make it so riveting and unique.
by Catherine Leopold - 2008-12-31
On August 7th 1974 Philippe Petit wire-walked across the two buildings of New York's Twin Towers in a daring and highly illegal stunt that is retold in Man on Wire in compelling detail. The film recounts Petit's and his accomplices' struggles to organise and carry out their mission, which involved bypassing security, getting tons of equipment into the towers without being noticed, finding a way to rig the wire between the buildings and ensuring that it was taut enough for Petit to walk on. They spent months planning the coup, which Petit had been obsessed with achieving ever since he heard that the Twin Towers were to be built.The interviews with Petit's friends, ex-girlfriend and the man himself create a picture of an extraordinary character whose passion for wire-walking has dictated his life and whose burning ambition to cross the Twin Towers became an obsession that overshadowed everything else, even his fear of death. The interviews with Petit are hugely enjoyable because his enthusiasm has not dimmed in the intervening 34 years; he recounts his feelings and the details of the plan with glee and fervour, but it's the interviews with his friends that are perhaps the most illuminating. Their accounts give an impression of a man so obsessed with his goal that his selfishness impacted negatively on his relationships with others.
Petit's first two major wire-walks - Notre Dame and the Sydney Harbour Bridge - are illustrated by incredible footage of him walking across what looks like thin air, sitting and even laying on the wire while pedestrians look on in wonder and policemen have to clear the streets below him. He used no safety harness and no nets. All that stood between Petit and certain death was a balancing pole and his own skill. As amazing as these achievements were, they only set the scene for the main event, and our protagonists' descriptions of the Twin Towers stunt make for tense viewing. Even though Petit is there talking about his triumph, the scale of the challenge and the obstacles the team faced create a sense of danger and unpredictability, and we have to keep reminding ourselves that Petit did achieve his goal.
In what has been described as "the artistic crime of the century", Philippe Petit stepped out onto that wire 1,350 feet in the air, and as the crowd grew below and policemen waited on both buildings to arrest him, he spent 45 minutes on the wire and crossed it eight times, pausing occasionally to sit down and admire the view. It's just astounding to watch, especially when we see a picture of the ground from the top of one of the towers. Seeing a man - a very special man, but a flesh and blood human nonetheless - cross the gaping chasm between those buildings on just a steel cable is something you will not forget. Though James Marsh's documentary is well-made and uses a clever mix of interviews, photos, archive footage and reconstructions to tell the story, it's the stunt itself and the remarkable man who did it that make it so riveting and unique.