Walking in the Air

Last night I eventually got around to watching ‘Man on Wire’, a documentary film which I had recorded on my sky plus box a few weeks ago and until now not seen.  The film directed by James March was released in 2008, however I did not hear of it until recently when a friend of mine described in to me, telling me it had won a BAFTA and that it was being shown on tv.  Partial to a good documentary, and by all accounts this was a great documentary, I decided it was not to be missed.  I was not wrong!  

On 7^th August 1974, the French artiste named Phillippe Petit spent 45 minutes transcended between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre.  On a slim metal wire 1350 feet above the ground, he walked, he lay, he danced his way across a number of 8 times in an enthralling illegal tight-walking feat.

Based on a booked published by Petit in 2002, this magnificent documentary is constructed as a heist film, with two major factors setting it apart from the rest – 1. It is a true story and 2. The intricate plot is woven around the theft of nothing more than air.  ‘Man on Wire’ is recreated with a series of archive material, photographs, video footage and interviews with Petit’s friends and associates, pieced together chronologically.  The film illustrates the passion involved in the years of planning this crazy adventure, from the day Petit first heard about the building of the Twin Towers and began to sketch his ideas right at the beginning, all the way through to the smuggling of the heavy wire cable up to the top of the buildings under a blanket of darkness the night before the grand finale. 

Marsh’s film does full justice to this incredible story highlighting the extreme lengths Petit’s team went to fulfill his dream, their will to sacrifice anything and everything to get there.  As the observer, the suspense builds up and up throughout the documentary as the day of the stunt gets nearer, will he make it, won’t he make it.  Indeed deep down we know he must make it as interview clips from the present day are included in the script, so the question is more how will he make it?  It seems such an impossible feat that can undoubtedly be classed as both pure stupidity and pure genius at the same time.   What adds even more to this awe-inspiring tale, is that when the time comes and he is up on that high wire spanning the twin towers, as the observer you can’t help but share Petit’s feeling of overwhelming exhilaration.  The onlookers at the World Trade Centre react with a mixture awe and gratitude, making for a very moving scene.  Phillippe’s philosophy is simple; life is not worth living, unless – quite literally – it is lived on the edge.  And for anyone wishing to escape their own reality for an hour or so and experience the mind-blowing reality of the Man on Wire that will have you holding your breath with astonishment, then this is not to missed.  Five stars from me!