Man on Wire

Philippe Petit is still performing and we caught his performance in Washington Square Park after the screening.

Man on Wire was a brilliant documentary but I almost wish Philippe Petit, the Man on Wire, hadn’t been there. The documentary did a fantastic job of honoring the art of this crazy guy while humorously portraying his stunt as some sort of high-level bank heist. Philippe Petit, an “oh so French” man, rebelled against his strict French parents by becoming a street performing and centering his life on high wire walking. He taught himself to walk the wire on a self made rig behind his family’s garden in France. From there he tackled the towers of Notre Dame and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. But his goal was always to walk on a wire between the two World Trade Center towers.

Philippe convinced many of his friends and his faithfully devoted girlfriend to help in his quest and this perfectly ‘70s group of French teens plotted for years. Once in New York, two Americans were recruited for unknown reasons. The French friends described them simply as “losers”. Someone said they believed one of the Americans showed up stoned. In response, the American said, “I smoked pot everyday for 35 years. There’s no reason to believe I didn’t smoke on that day”. At that point I couldn’t believe anyone had survived this stunt.

But they did. Philippe was let off by agreeing to perform for children. His French friends were expelled from the US and never allowed to return. His relationship with his dedicated French girlfriend was over when he slept with a fan that walked up to him as he was let out of custody. It turned out Philippe wasn’t really a nice guy.

The most stunning feature of the documentary was the beauty of the images of a man suspended in midair in some of the world’s most gorgeous locations. The black and white photographs of Philippe walking across Notre Dame with the Eiffel Tower behind him were breathtaking. Other than that, the reenactments and stories from this completely unprofessional group of teenage friends were hilarious. Kudos to director James Marsh for putting these stories together in such a unique way.