Man on Wire

Here's a documentary of great restraint. It doesn't show us background, it doesn't clutter its story with excesses, or, for a film prominently about the twin towers, anything obvious about that. The film presents us with Phillipe Petit, a French high-wire walker. Alternating between the beginning of Petit's career and the event that defined him, the film lets Petit tell most of the story. He's quite animated, using an actual curtain in the room as a prop at times, and practically jumping out of his seat. Assisting us in an illustration of Petit's prime achievement are those who helped him plan it. They're all similarly entertaining, but more restrained than the passionate Petit. One half of the film tells of Petit's early achievements: he walked between the spires of Notre Dame, upon a bridge in Sydney. These achievements, shown in old black and whites and film footage, are astonishing. There's a quiet, serene, beauty to Petit, who, so passionate as he explains his life, has a look of great concentration and masterful prowess when he's on the high wire. He's described as walking on clouds, and he appears to, rather, walk in the sky. Petit, however, becomes enamored with the construction of the world trade center in New York City. He sees the buildings as something practically built for him, and this bug grows in him from a dream to great, extensive, elaborately explained planning. Petit had to figure out where to rig the wire, how to get it from one tower to another, how to surpass guards, security, workers, and then, of course, survive. But the achievement is depicted with a great serenity, which reflects on the same sort of realization that the towers no longer exist, but Petit does. When the scene finally comes where Petit walks on the wire, it is nothing less than stunning.

★★★★ out of Five