Thursday, October 30, 2008
Sometimes a story seems just too good to be true. Take last year’s surprise documentary hit King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, for example: ridiculous people engrossed in a seemingly ridiculous pursuit that just so happened to be real.
Such is the case with the story of wire-walker Philippe Petit in Man on Wire, another documentary about a group of people caught in a real and amazingly cinematic adventure. However, Petit’s tale of walking on a tightrope between the two World Trade Center towers in 1974 isn’t something to laugh at. It’s a story jam-packed with images and anecdotes that will leave you breathless. We hear from Petit and his accomplices in interviews, dramatic re-enactments, archival footage and photograph after photograph of Petit seemingly walking on air hundreds of feet above the ground. I lost count of the number of times I gasped.
It doesn’t hurt that Petit is a fantastic storyteller. It’s clear he enjoys attention as much as he enjoys making mischief, and he talks to the camera while wildly gesticulating his plan. The people who helped him accomplish his feat are thoughtful, and obviously care just as much about their friend as they do about the importance of the act itself. From Petit’s early stunts—such as walking on a wire between the bell towers of Notre Dame—to the final climatic act when we see him suspended between the World Trade Center towers, Petit and his friends have full command of the audience. It’s an amazing thing to see the story unfold, and to see the relationships between the people involved.
Man on Wire simply must be seen to be believed. It’s an inspirational work that makes you want to go out and do something unbelievable. Maybe not walk on a high-wire (some of us are afraid of heights) but experience things that make us appreciate the people and places around us. This movie is wonderful, and every bit as thrilling as, well, watching a tightrope act.
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