Man on Wire (2008)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

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 | Rooftop | Friend | Dancing | Tightrope

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

Color:

Color

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 Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva)

Company:

Discovery Films

Trivia:

The helicopter reporter heard describing the tightwire walk (at 1:20:50 on the DVD) is Neil Bush, traffic helicopter pilot/reporter for WCBS NewsRadio88.

Quotes:

Philippe Petit: To me, it's really so simple, that life should be lived on the edge. You have to exercise rebellion. To refuse to tape yourself to the rules, to refuse your own success, to refuse to repeat yourself, to see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge. Then you will live your life on the tightrope.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Gymnopedie No. 1

The triumph of will - MAN ON WIRE is the unexpected showstealer of the year

"Genius is a transcendent capacity for taking trouble first of all" Frederick the great by Thomas Carlyle

"Genius: the mental endowment peculiar to an individual; that disposition or aptitude of mind which qualifies a person for a certain kind of action or special success in a given pursuit." Webster's International Dictionary

This is Phillip Petit, the 25 year old who in August of 1974 walked a tightrope between the Twin Towers of the WTC. Yet what is that which makes a documentary on such a fantastic, quixotic accomplishment relevant to us mortals? Is it not the same kind of awe the passers by experienced when they saw that morning a tiny figure suspended above the void, the same kind of marvel the people interviewed experienced again when they described Petit's walking on air some thirty years later? What is Petit's accomplishment if not a profound religious experience, a form of divinity in itself? And it is exactly because Petit's action bears no explanation, it has no rationale behind its daring do, no tangible end by which to hold it and examine it in the light of logic. The action in the same time the reason of it. What did Petit accomplish but a monument of human perseverance, enduring will and the triumph of mind over matter?

If MAN ON WIRE is so successful at what it does, it's not only because of the feat it purports to describe but because of the path it takes in describing it. Staging it as a heist thriller, filmed in black and white in shades of noir, orchestrated like a bank robbery of sorts, the same kind of films Petit laboriously studied as he was preparing his takeover. By presenting us with real people who emote better than a lot of actors could even dream of. By placing Phillip Petit pivotal in the narration of the events unfolding, a passionate man with an almost half-mad gleam in his eye but also a love of life that leaps across the screen as utterly genuine. By adopting the skeleton of a real movie - not a sterile "went there, did that" documentary but one with a premise, plot, setup and payoff, climax and conclusion.

Filmed with true cinematographic flair, in turns suspenseful, faith-reaffirming and awe-inspiring, MAN ON WIRE is the unexpected show-stealer of the year, sneaking under the nose of Hollywood behemoths with 50 times its budget and doing what they're too sluggish to do, too dazzled by their own spectacle. A simple story beautifully told.