Review of Man on Wire (2008) by Melvin W — 10 Jan 2012

Philippe Petit: If I die, what a beautiful death! .

"1974. 1350 feet up. The artistic crime of the century.".

Wow, I was completely taken aback by Man on Wire. I loved the creativity by the director, James Marsh. He made the movie feel less like a documentary and more like a thriller in the way he presented it. I loved the black and white reenactments throughout. It added much more depth to the story we were listening to. The first part of the movie where the people involved in helping Philippe, and Philippe himself talked about the van ride to the towers felt so much like a bank robbery. Then later in the film, I was thrilled to find out that Philippe looked at it in the exact same way. Everything they were doing was like a heist. They had to scout out the buildings, make fake I.D. cards, sneak into the building at night, and sneak by guards. The only difference between this and a heist is the end result. .

Man on Wire is a fabulous documentary on a compelling man, Philippe Petit, and his dream to tightrope between the World Trade Centers. Why? There is no why. He was sitting in a dentist office, reading a magazine, where he saw a picture of what the towers would look like when they were finished and fell in love with the idea. Philippe is a man of extreme enthusiasm, excitement, and concentration. He's so energetic, always running around and constantly laughing and smiling. But when he gets on a rope, his face turns to stone and he is in a state of the deepest concentration you are likely to see. .

It's impossible to not be astonished by what he did. Watching him from the ground, a speck of color, hovering in the sky would have been amazing. There is a moment in the movie where he admits that when he first saw them, he said it's impossible, but let's get to work. That's his attitude. He just wants to walk between the towers, no matter what the risk. Even if he dies, he will go out doing what he loves and that's beautiful. It doesn't hurt that he also had the support of many people. His friends wanted to see him out on that wire just as much as he did. That's pretty obvious when we listen to their interviews and watch them begin to tear up when talking about it. This wasn't just Philippe; he couldn't have done it by himself. In the end, it was for everyone involved.

I expected this to be great from the perfect reviews, which hardly ever happens. What I didn't expect was for the movie do be so beautiful. It's obvious going in that the story is going to be an engrossing one. But Marsh's skills take the story to a whole new level and this documentary to a whole new level. I love documentaries and watch them frequently, and this is a new favorite of mine.