John Brooks
As a cinematic experience, this is good. It's got a compelling story, which it explains the intricate technicalities of well and drops the viewer right in the thick of a suspenseful undertaking, while the back and forth between the interviewed parties (all playing themselves) and the older filmed footage and documents makes for a solid platform to deliver the goods.But ultimately, at heart, this is a terribly futile, vain story built around a man who evidently was the loneliest soul in the world who was in such dire need of attention he would illegally pull a tightrope walking stunt right on the highest point of New York city. The film attempts to make it more poetic than what it really is; the illegal act of a psychopath; and seems to push for an emotional climax that feels unnecessary and forced, and really it highlights the various different aspects of the vanity behind that main character (his superficial attachments to close friends, the emptiness of life and how everyone is interchangeable and nothing exceeds the present moment or has profound meaning...).The film also tries hard to ride the aesthetic wave: there's a sort of overt appreciation for the Frenchness on display, the french accents and spirit, the poetry... obviously, this is an entire film-documentary about a ludicrous and totally ephemeral gig.
sir-mauri
Based on Phillipe Petit's novel To Reach the Clouds, James Marsh's documentary retells through interviews, pictures and reconstructions the pursuit of Phillipe's dream to walk on a wire between the World Trade Centre towers.Billed as a heist movie Marsh gets the audiences heart racing before they even reach the rooftops of the towers, but there's no questioning the videos and pictures of Phillipe at work have a majestic awe of their own.Its to the credit of Phillipe's passion and storytelling that you are at all times aware of the risks but at all times believe in him.
SnoopyStyle
In 1974, Philippe Petit does an illegal high wire walk between the twin towers at New York City's World Trade Center. Philippe, his girlfriend Annie, and his friends started working on wire-walks on various monuments. First it's in Paris and then it's the Sydney Habor Bridge. In NYC, they gather new comrades as the gang plans out a scheme to transport the material up to the top which is still under construction. After making the walk, Philippe is arrested. In his arrest record under Details of Complaint, the police had written "Man on Wire".Philippe's french accent is almost hypnotic. He is a man of real drive. It's a relatively simple documentary. The surprising aspect is how much of a caper story the scheme turns out to be. It's better than most fictional capers and Philippe's hyper descriptions are mesmerizing. The pictures of the walk are awesome. There is something beautiful about the whole story.
rain duke
Like Twin towers, like hero — A film review on Man on wireTowers have always been important symbols in myth, film and real life. Babel tower witnessed human's unity turning into chaos. The Two Towers represent something powerful but evil and need to be destroyed in the Lord of the Rings. Back to real life, Eiffel tower is an eternal symbol of love to all. So what does the Twin Towers mean in the film Man on Wire? It is a dream that lures and motivates Philippe to reach, and a place where legend and glory are created. However, such high places like the Twin Towers can be conquered, and such beautiful things like the Twin Towers can be destroyed. Heroes and towers are alike, glorious, lonely, and can even be defeated. But it doesn't matter, because they once stood on the top of the world.The documentary, Man on Wire, tells us a story that happened between the Twin Towers where Philippe made his epic walk. From his early days to his preparations, from his lover to his friends, from the glorious walk to his later deeds, the 90 minute award-winning film give us a chance to witness the whole process of Philippe's legendary life. Unlike the recent adaptation the Walk, which uses advanced visual effect technology that gives the audience heart-beating experience and poetic way of storytelling that makes Philippe a hero with almost no flaws, Man on Wire did a great job as a documentary for its respect for reality and depth of theme. As a documentary, the director uses several unique film technologies in accordance with different scenes. All these details give the audience a sense of how Philippe's great dream turns into reality step by step. The director uses iris shot when Philippe was presenting his show on the street in his early days in most of the past scenes. This gives us a feeling that we are peeping Philippe's performance together with the crowd through the hole of history. At first, you may ignore this special scene, but as it shows again and again, you feel that you actually witnessed the whole process of Philippe's life and growth starting from his early street performing times. You have a sense that you are noticing every detail of the event, and this is foreshadowing the greatness that Philippe will achieve in the future. Furthermore, the director chose to use binocular shot to present the scenes of Philippe's second observation of the twin towers when he came back to America. This telescope-like scene not only coincides with the plot since Philippe observed the tower in more details, but it also reinforces the bond between the character and the audience, since we are actually seeing things from Philippe's perspective. We get to see the character better, and we start to regard Philippe as an embodiment of tower with bright future.These old scenes of the documentary are not as colorful and eye-catching as those magic Hollywood blockbuster or more recent film like the Walk does with the help of technology, and we may say less "Wows" when watching these. However, what we can feel is a sense of the credibility of history and the spirit of the respect to the fact. We not only just can see the things, but we can actually feel the colorful future through the shadow of the black and white. The open themes of the film make this good documentary a great one. One is definitely the success of the pursuit of one's dream. A dream is more valuable when others are constantly mocking it. In the film, the word "impossible" is repeated multiple times. The repetition of this word supports the theme by giving the audience a sense of the difficulty of the work and an expectation to Philippe for overcoming the "impossible". The overcome of the tower is also the overcome of Philippe's own heart regardless of all these disagreements. We can never forget the excitement when Philippe found his dream seeing the news that the Twin Towers was under construction at the age of 17. We can never forget how this magic tower, a symbol in his heart, lures Philippe to break the rules, to build the line, and to walk the air. If you have a dream, pursuit it! If you have a tower, overcome it! One must find one's own tower to overcome!But the theme doesn't just stop here. The ten-minute ending brings about a thought-provoking theme. After Philippe's success, he did not share the happiness with his companions. Instead, he chose to cheat his girlfriend, to abandon all his companions, and to take the honor alone. His friends suffered more severe punishments, and his girlfriend also left him right after the success. All these facts were shown to the audience without reserve or polish. The director doesn't make the judgment, instead, he present the truth to the audience to let them to judge on their own.Can we blame Philippe for doing so? Can we say what makes a hero is his loneliness? Must a hero be without any flaws? I have no answers to these questions at first. But seeing all his friends cried with smile at last when talked about the success when they were old, seeing the old Philippe again walked alone on wire, seeing them forgive about each other and move on, seeing the permanent tickets to the Twin Towers. I figure I have already had the answers in my heart.I don't know if it is related to the reason of making this film, even with such glorious history, great towers like Twin Towers cannot avoid the destiny of being destroyed in 911. Heroes like Philippe can be defeated as well. But it doesn't matter, because they once shined before, they once stood on the top of the world. Because they are like towers, they can reach the cloud.
