Man on Wire 2008
I went into this documentary with some apprehension. I am not fond of egocentric Europeans with big dreams telling about their great accomplishments. And it takes an enormous ego to walk on a tightrope between the Twin Towers 1300 feet above the street without permission. Fortunately, though the man who walks across the wire is in the movie, we also hear from members of the group that helped him accomplish his task and we learn that this was not a one-man show. With home movies and news footage from the period as well as recreated segments to go along with the interviews of the participants, a good story can be built up telling you about the how it turned out that a street performer from France would be in New York to walk across a wire. As the story gets closer and closer to the big event there is some pretty good drama on whether they would be caught. The movie ends with a bittersweet epilogue which may be what really gets the critics all going to bat for the movie.
I was too young to remember the story when it happened, but I knew that it had been done. So the movie does a good job of filling in how it happened without going into excessive technical or biographical detail. For the most part attention is focused on the caper, how it came about, and how they pulled it off. It is a good movie, well worth watching, but keep your expectations low and be prepared to read a lot of subtitles.
Written: 11 Dec 2008