Man on Wire - 29 November 2009

Cast: As themselves: Philippe Petit, and a variety of his associates.

Film notes: Winner of the 2009 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, Man on Wire is a stunning record of what has been called "The artistic crime of the century", namely Philippe Petit's illegal tightrope walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center on August 7, 1974. Director James Marsh (Wisconsin; Death Trip) builds upon Petit's own "home movie" documentation of the WTC stunt and earlier warm-up stunts (a crossing between the spires of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, then one between the pylons of the Sydney Harbour Bridge) with deft reenactments of the set-up stages inside the WTC to make a charming heist movie as much as a documentary. He provides telling interviews with the core group of Petit's longtime collaborators, and with the one-off accomplices in the WTC job. Marsh draws into the frame of the lone “man on wire” the network of companions that enable Petit to do his thing, examining not just the planning, the rehearsals, and the execution, but the human aftermath of the dare-devil event that made Petit a celebrity. 

The film is a compelling and thoughtful composite of behind-the-scenes insights and exquisite sequences of the high-wire performances themselves. A thorough exploration of the Petit phenomenon, the film is an astonishing aesthetic experience for the viewer, but is equally a study of how a single-minded visionary relies upon the deepest intellectual, material, and emotional support of loving friends. Without explicitly saying so, the film pays tribute to the Romantic, "we can do anything" spirit of the early 70s, where anti-authoritarianism expressed itself in acts of beauty.