Film Review: Man on Wire

by Mike Chapple, Liverpool Daily Post

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"HERE was an extraordinary individual who viewed the world in a unique way. Not least from places that no other man has ever seen."

So says Man on Wire’s director James Marsh of the remarkable Philippe Petit, pickpocket, magician and wire walker, a modern day hero whose story provides the backdrop for one of the most compelling documentaries ever made.

As a teenager in Paris, Petit dreamt of achieving the seemingly unachievable - of breaking into the World Trade Centre, rigging a wire between the Twin Towers and then dancing upon it with nothing seprating him and oblivion on the New York pavement 1,350 feet below.

Dextrously weaving interviews with the impish Petit of today, the friends and collaborators who helped him to fulfil his impossible dream and death-defying archive footage, British director Marsh - who is responsible for other acclaimed real life tales such as Wisconsin Death Trip and The Burger and the King - puts flesh on a truly amazing work that’s alternately moving, amusing, inspirational, poignant and life affirming.

Some images will burn in the mind forever especially the footage shot on August 7 1974 in which Petit brazenly danced along the wire suspended between the towers for over an hour, at one point lying flat on his back and at another kneeling down on one knee buffetted by the winds blowing in from the Atlantic.

The spine chilling effect is compounded by the realisation that no-one will ever be able to repeat what was achieved on that day because of the tragic events which took place one bright blue September morning 27 years later.

Literally, fantastic.

* Man on Wire is at FACT Picturehouse in Wood Street from August 15.