Posted: Tuesday 29th July 2008

Reviewed by Jason Palmer

In 1974 Philippe Petit did something extraordinary. He successfully walked on a tightrope suspended between the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City. This was an unimaginable display of skill and daring from the eccentric and entertaining Frenchman and his story has now been given a captivating documentary to tell the hidden truths behind what was called “the artistic crime of the century”.

Petit’s dream which becomes his obsession is almost inconceivable to the general public but his natural energy and vigour for achieving the impossible makes for fascinating viewing. For such a task to be achieved there would have to be an enormous amount of planning involved and Petit’s friends and colleagues provide the documentary with the mechanics of pulling off something so dangerous. It’s all in the details and you really get a sense of the massive task that lay ahead for these people. Equally as interesting is the reason to why they all participated in the first place given that most of what they were doing was illegal and could have sent them to jail. Because of this, Man on Wire plays out like a 1950’s crime caper movie and it’s just as entertaining.

A downside to this film would be that most of the footage leading up to the feat (the planning and implementation process) is home video stock but when the actual event takes place there are only photographic stills, no cine-film. It’s a shame and something that could have taken this documentary to the next level. Don’t get me wrong, the stills are very impressive and definitely give you a sense of the overwhelming situation at hand. But it doesn’t capture what film footage would have and it left me wondering why the group chose to film everything except the actual event itself. That said the images onscreen are thankfully left up without much background interference so the audience gets a real chance to absorb the enormity of what happened on that special day in 1974. Its beautiful in places and the emotion of all the people who recount their experiences are heartfelt and sad. The human connection is Man on Wire’s strongest asset, it draws you in and the passion of those involved makes for compelling viewing.

Man on Wire starts promisingly, but there is a large part in the middle that treads on familiar ground over and over again and takes the movie to a point where the flow of narrative is interrupted. It’s also broken up by sometimes bizarre montages that introduce the various “characters” involved in planning the Trade Centre infiltration. Some would call it quirky but it detracted from the story at hand. The characters themselves are suitably fleshed out in candid interviews across the 90mins giving a good but not thorough insight to why they decided to pitch their tent alongside Petit in his outlandish endeavour.

To witness an event like this firsthand would have been something special and the documentary goes some way to try and place you there with Petit. It succeeds for the most part but some delving into the relationships of all the principle participants, especially after the event would have given this a more balanced and well rounded feel. An intriguing and fallible look at how the “artistic crime of the century” came to be and the relationships forged and lost in the process.