Movie-Man On Wire

Man On Wire is an Oscar nominated film, being nominated for best documentary film.

I had heard about this movie before it was nominated for an Academy Award, hearing gushing reviews on NPR and other media outlets. But it did not seem that interesting to me. Sharlynn had the same reaction, but we put it in and were blown away by the movie.

Man On Wire tells about Phillipe Petit, the man who wire walked across the air between the Twin Towers in 1974. It was a feat that captured the world's attention. But how that feat happened is told as a thriller, and it watches like one. From the moment, as a teenager, when Petit sees a story about the construction of the towers, he knows he must do this.

He does some "practise" runs, wire walking between the steeples of Notre Dame and over the Sydney harbor bridge in Australia. But that is all a prologue. He must get to the Twin Towers, those buildings that he was fixated upon.

The movie is very thriller like, as Petit recruits shady individuals to assist him in getting the equipment he needed for his feat. Almost caught several times, having to hide under a tarp, unmoving for hours as a watchman was in the room where he was going to access the roof, the story is tension filled.

And then, he does it. Eight times he goes back and forth between the buildings. He lay down on the wire, and knelt on it, as police watched with frustration, not daring to go out into the chasm to catch him.

This movie is incredible and amazing. And a little freaky, watching him walk across the tallest buildings in the world.

9/11 is not mentioned in the movie, but it always lurks in your mind. And it is a tribute, in a way, to those engineering marvels, that they provided such fascination for Phillipe Petit--that they fired up his imagination and courage and foolhardiness.

This is an excellent film! Very entertaining and well done.