Man On Wire

reviewed by Travis

3.5 /4 banana peels

It was dubbed "The Artistic Crime of the Century" by Time Magazine. On August 7th, 1974, French high-wire artist Phillipe Petit, walked between the two Wold Trade Center towers on a 450-pound cable for roughly an hour before he was taken into custody. During his adventure, citizens gathered around on the streets of New York City, squinting, to see this small black figure of Petit seemingly floating in the space between the two towers. But what's really awe-inspiring is that what Petit saw from there...was his and his alone. And that's what makes it "artistic" to me, to combat any (probably jealous) critics who think of it as just some daredevil stunt. Later, when repeatedly being asked "Why?" by reporters and journalists, he was dumbfounded and just answered, "I see three oranges and I juggle. I see a wire and I walk." There was no answer to "why?". It was just something the man loved to do, something he had aspired to, and had accomplished.

Through his own words and those of his loyal co-conspirators, this documentary takes a glance at Petit's background, his passion and obsession with the high-wire, and his dream of walking between the WTC towers. The documentary also looks into the months of planning that went into the WTC act and spends some time focusing on the night before, as Petit and his team setup...along with all the troubles that they faced there. 

What really grabs your attention in this documentary, other than the score by Michael Nyman, is Petit's own eccentric nature and freethinking spirit. 

The pacing of the documentary is near perfect, switching back and forth between reenactments, interviews, and old home footage of Petit and his team. It's suspenseful, funny, beautiful, and uplifting...all in a good balance.

The music made it even better. In fact, I bought the soundtrack almost immediately after watching it. I'd recommend listening to Fish Beach, Time Lapse, An Eye for Optical Theory, and Memorial from the album (if you enjoy movie soundtracks, maybe I'm the only one). See if you like it. Obviously, it might sound more interesting if you can relate it to the scenes in 'Man On Wire' like I do.

The film won the Oscar for best documentary last year. I figured I'd give it a try...and I'm really glad I did. It's one of those documentaries pretty much anybody would enjoy and/or be inspired by.