Review about the movie Man On Wire
Man on Wire is a 2008 British documentary film directed by James Marsh. The film tells the 1974 walk of Philippe Petit at high height between the Twin Towers of the New York World Trade Center.
Man on Wire tells the real story of the famous high -level walk of Philippe Petit between the twin towers of the World Trade Center on August 7, 1974. The amazing feat of him made him a media sensation. Petit’s adventure began at an early age, when he began studying magic tricks and presented himself in the streets of the city to entertain tourists. At sixteen, he discovered his passion for walking on the tightrope and trained in art for a year. One day, while waiting at the office of a dentist in Paris, Petit found an article about the project plan for the Twin Towers of New York along with a graphic illustration of the buildings. He suddenly knew that he had to conquer them. The film follows her story and explores her motivation and ambition to fulfill her dream of crossing the towers.
The first part of Man on Wire presents the public to World Trade Center. Historical images of the construction of the towers are shown, with workers, cranes and trucks working together to build colossal structures. It looks like a puzzle, a really good one. The documentary is completely related to Philippe Petit and has nothing to do with September 11 attacks. In fact, attacks are not even mentioned in the film. This was a good decision, since it had nothing to do with Petit’s trick. However, some people can interpret this film in a different way: Petit has shown that the two towers can also be conquered by practice and courage, rather than through a military attack.
Produced by James Marsh, Man On Wire contains exclusive images of the personal video and photographs collection of Petit. But the movie is more than that. The director has also rebuilt parts of the story with actors. One of the fascinating things we learn is the great length that Petit and his team passed to ensure that the trick was as planned. He passed through a journalist to get access to the ceiling during the recognition missions and convinced an inmate to forge security passes.
The night before the walk, Petit and his partner were almost seen by a security guard. They quickly hid under a canvas in an perched beam on the elevator hole with a 400 m drop below them. They waited for hours, dared not to move or breathe a word until the guard left.
Man on Wire is full of suspense. The action comes and goes when least expected and keeps the spectator captivated.
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