Man on Wire (2008)

Director:

James Marsh

Writer:

Philippe Petit (book)

Release Date:

1 August 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary | Crime

Tagline:

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

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."

Plot Keywords:

Tower | Passion | High Wire | Juggler | Friend

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 27 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Philippe Petit	...	Himself
Jean François Heckel	...	Himself (as Jean-François Heckel)
Jean-Louis Blondeau	...	Himself
Annie Allix	...	Herself
David Forman	...	Himself
Alan Welner	...	Himself
Mark Lewis	...	Himself
Barry Greenhouse	...	Himself (as N. Barry Greenhouse)
Jim Moore	...	Himself
Guy F. Tozzoli	...	Himself (as Guy Tozzoli)
Paul McGill	...	Philippe - Drama Reconstructions
David Demato	...	Jean-Louis - Drama Reconstructions
Ardis Campbell	...	Annie - Drama Reconstructions
Aaron Haskell	...	Jean-François - Drama Reconstructions
Shawn Dempewolff-Barrett	...	David - Drama Reconstructions (as Shawn Dempewolff)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexuality and nudity, and drug references.

Runtime:

USA:94 min | USA:90 min (Sundance Film Festival)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | French

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Ireland:12A | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Ontario) (Canadian Home Video rating) | Australia:PG | UK:12 | Portugal:M/6 | Singapore:NC-16 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud)

Company:

Discovery Films

Trivia:

After Philippe Petit and his compatriots are taken into custody, they are processed by the police. The phrase "MAN ON WIRE" is entered on one of the forms used to document the incident.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Philippe and his friend are hiding from the night watchman at the WTC, a box on the floor has a present-day USPS logo.

Quotes:

Philippe Petit: It's impossible, that's sure. So let's start working.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Orange British Academy Film Awards (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Gnossienne No. 1

a fascinating and even wondrous man caught in a beautiful movie, not just documentary

I went to see Man on Wire with my mother and a friend, and after it my mother said simply "something like this will never happen again." Meaning not so much that someone won't try something death-defying or crazy like walking a tight rope somewhere or climbing up a building (matter of fact that still happens in Manhattan as recently as a couple of months back), but that this sort of situation- a man going across something as perilous and unique as the Twin Towers- is based in a film that preserves his story like so. Philippe Petit was already a tight-rope walker who did some crazy stunts (i.e. crossing Notre Dame's stretch of space in Paris), but this was his crowning achievement which, oddly enough, didn't quite get the kind of buzz the film might depict; the day of Petit's walk across the towers, Nixon resigned from the presidency.

Just a simple profile on the man might be enough, and hearing this artist (however "French" he might get in saying that it's like poetry, which maybe it is for all I know) is something to behold as a figure who sees himself as a rebel but not without some reason or in what he does. But Marsh's magnificence is first to actually make us forget, just a second, that the towers are no longer with us; it's never mentioned in the film that they're gone, so the lingering absence is all the more troubling once remembered by the viewer. One is left with the purity of this on-the-surface stunt that becomes akin to a bank robbery to Petit, as he plans and spies on the site and forms a 'crew' to do the job of sneaking up to the top level and for three days continuing to stay elusive (even going under a tarp for hours on end with a co-hort to hide from guards) while attaching the cables- which also, at one point, nearly falls apart as a plan.

Then, second, Marsh reveals himself as good as a director of dramatization in a documentary I've seen since Errol Morris; perhaos even more daring with his black and white photography of what starts as a sneak-in (watch for fake sideburns on the actors), then transforms into a full-blown noir with beautiful lighting and exterior shots of the building and other angles that just stun the crap out of a viewer not expecting such artistry. In a sense Marsh is attempting something as daring as Petit, only by way of telling the story, however non-linearly, in a manner that should get his DP an academy nomination (if, of course, the academy ever got wise to nominate for cinematography for a documentary). And, on top of this, despite knowing partially the outcome- mainly, of course, that Petit lived to tell his tale to the camera as did his (once) friends and lover- it's still thrilling and even suspenseful to see all of this buildup if one isn't entirely researched on the details.

But it's not just about the build-up and execution of that tight-rope walk, although when Marsh gets the chance to show his subject walking across this or other examples he puts it to beautiful, heart-aching music that transcends the material just enough. The man himself, and the people who knew and/or worked under him, takes up most of the time in the story. Petit is a curious fellow who can ramble like any energetic and, obviously, passionate Frenchman, and confesses how he's always been a climber since a child and loves the aspect of showmanship when he can (when not wire walking, he juggles and rides a unicycle, a lovely if strange clown).

We also see his effect on others, like his friend Jean-Louis who co-planned the WTC project, and his lover Annie Alix who found him irrisistable and barely spent a moment worrying what would happen to him. And then there's the assorted 'characters', like in any good noir, that spring up as entertaining and interesting both in present and retrospect form; even a guy with one of those *real* twirling moustaches comes forward and talks, as well as one particular member of the crew who spent 35 years smoking pot and also during the WTC job (Marsh has a wonderful way of sort of 'introducing' them as well, in a walk-in profile and name tag). Hearing them expound about the mechanics of the job, and of Petit's personality and effect on them all, for better or worse as a kind of partially blind optimist, is also a major part of the appeal in Man on Wire.

While Marsh possibly leaves out some possibly intriguing details about Petit after this job ends (save for the immediate details about his sentence and a brief, Clockwork Orange-filmed 'fling' with a local girl), and here and there finding him or even the film pretentious isn't out of the question, so much of it is alive and enthralling and even spiritual to a certain degree that I could forigve most of its possible faults. Just seeing some of that 8mm and film footage, shot at the practice sites, and the stills of Petit's walk late in life, is something that's hard to even put into words how to feel. I'm almost reminded of the wonder one feels when seeing the physically demanding art of Jean-Cristo, who also finds specific locations to pursue his craft. You can't say it specifically, but you know it's art, as is Marsh's film itself.