Man on Wire

According to Phillipe Petit, he wanted to wire walk across the gap between the Twin Towers even before they were completed. With a goal like that and a seemingly uncrushable spirit and belief that nothing is impossible one can only be amazed at the audacity of the stunt and the compelling nature of its execution. Man on Wire the new film that documents Petit's journey from wire walker obscurity to an amazing feat of human determination is everything I could want in a documentary.

Petit previously had exploits of wire walking between the spires of Notre Dame and across the Syndey Harbor Bridge but those as the film presents it were only amateur practice runs to the difficulty of the stunt he desired to perform. Taking a narrative approach that evokes a great heist movie (and I suspect this would have made an amazing fiction film) we are introduced to the dream, the players who helped make it happen and the journey from youthful dreams to accomplishment of the seemingly impossible.

The story is compelling. The interviews are interesting and heartfelt. The archival footage of Petit and crew planning in France, training and discussing the problems is all wonderfully explored. Dramatic re-enactments are used at times to hint at the anxiety of those moments that are undocumented particularly those inside the towers. But tying this all firmly together and what kept me smiling most of the film was Phillipe Petit.

He is so full of life that one can't help but admire and laugh. Frenetic and excitable he recalls his memories of youth and his dreams so vividly that I'm not sure one needs the re-enactments. Its not hard to imagine a young Petit coming up and asking you "would you like to help me out" and in his enthusiasm finding yourself sneaking into a large building to help him walk a high wire. And it is Petit who is so interesting and lively that is the heart of why this film is so entertaining and heartfelt.

So much so that you can just sense how heartbroken he must have been on 9/11/2001. More recent events are wisely kept out of the film but Petit's dream and realization and the ever present imagery of the Twin Towers cannot help us the viewers from thinking about it. And that makes it all the more poignant. See it, you won't regret it.