Man on Wire Review
By David Kempler
Man on a Mission
It is extremely difficult to think of the World Trade Center and prevent your mind from landing upon the tragedy of 2001. Yet in 1974, before construction of the twin towers was even completed, a group of young Frenchmen, led by high-wire artist, Philippe Petit, accomplished something that can now be viewed through the prism of the passage of time as an impossible task. Sadly, what Petit did that day can only happen in a world without immense security measures, something we may never see again.
"Man on Wire" is a documentary account of Petit and his band of cohorts in "crime", sneaking past security at the WTC, laying a cable that connected the tops of the respective towers, culminating in Petit's strolling, dancing, taunting and performing on this highest of high-wire acts for an astounding 45 minutes, while the New York Police and the rest of the world could only helplessly watch.
The tale is based on Petit's book, "To Reach the Clouds", and is directed by James Marsh. Marsh does a great job of unfolding the story. He is greatly aided in his task by the almost obsessive film documentation that Petit and his group shot of the event and of the preparation leading up to it. It is shot primarily in black and white, with some of the home footage shot in color.
It takes a while to get started in capturing our attention and sags from re-enactments of some of the events, particularly the footage of the preparation in the weeks leading up to Petit's walk across the sky. When it does get into gear, it is a pedal-to-the-metal suspense-fest even though we are fully aware of the eventual outcome.
Petit is a man who is driven to walk between the towers. The notion was planted in his head while he sat with a toothache in a dentist's office in France. When he opened a magazine in the waiting room he saw an artist's rendering of what the towers were to look like. As you might expect, it is at times hard to determine whether or not he is a tad nuts or just a man on a mission. The point is that all people who take chances could have the very same things said about them. The final evaluation is usually determined by whether or not success lays at the end of their particular road.
Too often during the film, one can't help but think about 9/11. At one point Petit is on the wire when a plane is photographed passing by, actually appearing to be heading towards one of the towers. How can you not cringe at a moment like that? Yet Marsh chooses to make no mention of the tragedy that was to come 27 years later. In interviews, Marsh has stated that the reason he does not mention it is because the story is "incredibly beautiful" and that it "would be unfair and wrong to infect his story with any mention, discussion or imagery of the Towers being destroyed."
"Man on Wire" is a very good telling of a story about men setting out to do something meaningful to them and succeeding. Unfortunately, the pall of the towers cannot be erased here, whether Marsh chooses to mention it or not. I think he made the right decision, assuming that there is a right decision to be made. Even more unfortunate is the possibility that stories like these have less and less chance of taking place because of the times that we live in. What we are left with an uplifting story of a band of human beings being overshadowed at times by a feeling of dread and spookiness. What should be a happy film, cannot be.
