Man on Wire

December21, 2008

In 1974 wire-walker Philippe Petit and an unlikely team of friends pulled off the impossible, after years of planning, and an anxiety riddled night ducking security guards, they spliced a wire between the two towers of the World Trade Center, and for 45 glorious minutes, Philippe danced with the wind on the wire nearly a mile above New York City. James Marsh's unbelievably entertaining account of that feat, told through interviews, archived photos, video footage, and surrealistic staged reenactments - which uses shadows and lookalike actors to lend a thriller aspect to the story – is by all accounts a story of true belief in one's art, and an insane determination to conquer even the most impossible of dreams. Indeed, Petit, in his dangerous determination to accomplish his goal, and in his hyper idealistic vision of wire-walking as the ultimate dance between life and death, comes off as slightly touched, but in a way, to plan, obsess, and carry out such an impossible mission, fraught with legal, and mortal consequences, you'd have to be a bit loose in the first place. Marsh doesn't ridicule Petit, he's just one of the bizarre heroes of his own story, and the still image of him between the now inexistent towers is awe inspiring, but there's a bittersweet nature to the interviews with the friends, who admit the miraculousness of the walk, but lament that afterwards, as Petit struggled to top himself, their close friendships deteriorated amidst arguments about safety. Edited and presented like a heist film, the personal and highly improbable wire-walk makes for one of the year's most remarkable stories, and with enthusiastic interviews and terrific photo montages visualizing every step of the way, it's arguably the most complete, and fascinating film of the year.

By Adam Suraf

asuraf@DunkirkMA.net