Review: ‘Man On Wire’ LAFF 08

A rag-tag team of foreigners comes together to pull off a gig in New York, the job to end all jobs. The Frenchman, the Australian, the ‘Inside Man’, this team of would-be experts carefully plan the details and then set them in motion, outsmarting the law and staying one step ahead of terrible danger at all costs. If the plot of the documentary Man On Wire sounds like the setup of a classic heist film, it’s certainly not unintentional. The difference being that the leader of this group of would-be criminals was 24 year old Philippe Petit, a well-known street performer and tight-rope walker from Paris, France and the gig itself was the most outrageous stunt of his life: a 45 minute wire performance between New York’s newly constructed World Trade Center Towers in 1974.

Bringing together the old team of planners to tell the story, Man On Wire presents the inspired tale of a man tasked to follow his will into unknown territory and risk his life because it existed to be risked. We hear from everyone in the recounting; from Petit’s girfriend at the time, fearful for the apparent madness of her beau, to his gang of charismatic every-men sneaking past guards at the Towers to lug the equipment necessary up 104 flights of stairs. Petit himself is a natural story-teller and the film’s clever and often hilarious recreations and re-stagings coupled with the characters’ honest retellings make for a well-paced, exciting trip through the heist. Jumping back and forth between the actual attempt and the many stages of planning and infiltration necessary to gather information, the doc never drags, as much to the credit of its storytellers as the piece of history itself.

Visually inventive with a story that actually deserves to be told, Man On Wire is a real triumph of spirit. By the time Petit finally steps out onto the wire between the two towers, the film’s romantic spirit has won its audience over and the results are exhilarating and surprisingly moving. The film’s score is excellent and supports the on-screen adventures with just the right levels of emotional accompaniment. Channeling the feel of Warner Herzog’s characters who are drawn inexplicably to accomplish the impossible, Philippe Petit and his friends manage just that and the film is a must see for anyone longing for a little humor and inspiration from the events of actual human accomplishment.

[rating: 4/5]