Synopsis
On August 7th 1974, French tightrope walker Philippe Petit stepped out on a high wire, illegally rigged between New York's World Trade Center twin towers, then the world's tallest buildings. After nearly an hour of performing on the wire, 1,350 feet above the sidewalks of Manhattan, he was arrested. This fun and spellbinding documentary chronicles Philippe Petit's "highest" achievement.
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Cast
- Philippe PetitHimself
- Jean François HeckelHimself
- Jean-Louis BlondeauHimself
- Annie AllixHerself
- David FormanHimself
- Alan WelnerHimself
- Barry GreenhouseHimself
- Jim MooreHimself
- Mark LewisHimself
Recommendations
- 100
Variety
One of the most wildly entertaining docs of recent years. - 100
Entertainment Weekly
The gorgeous music includes Ralph Vaughan Williams' wafting tone poem ''The Lark Ascending'' -- apt in describing an artist who might well be part bird. - 90
The New York Times
Thorough, understated and altogether enthralling documentary. - 88
TV Guide Magazine
The film runs 95 minutes, and you'll be holding your breath for most of them. - 88
New York Post
Engrossing and exhilarating documentary. - 80
Film Threat
Pre the events of 9/11, the film might have simply been an entertaining, high risk tale of a death-defying feat related in both interviews, archival footage and photos and Marsh's usual meticulous and creative re-enactment vignettes. Post 9/11 you find yourself marveling that a man in far away France became smitten with the twin towers long before they became the target of terrorist attacks. - 80
New York Magazine (Vulture)
The most miraculous thing about Man on Wire is not the physical feat itself, 1,350 feet above the ground, but that as you watch it, the era gone, the World Trade Center gone, the movie feels as if it's in the present tense. That nutty existentialist acrobat pulled it off. For an instant, he froze time. - 80
Village Voice
While largely lighthearted, Petit's walk and Marsh's film take on new meaning post-9/11. Man on Wire never mentions the events of that day, but the Trade Center's collapse continues to weigh on Petit, as if its destruction was every bit as tragic as the human lives lost that day.
