Home  •  About  •  Contact  •  Twitter  •  Google+  •  Facebook  •  Tumblr  •  Youtube  •  RSS Feed
Man On Wire

Man On Wire

By Patrick Samuel • October 21st, 2013
Static Mass Rating: 5/5
MAN ON WIRE (DOCUMENTARY)
Magnolia Pictures

Original release: January 22nd, 2008
Running time: 90 minutes

Director: James Marsh
Composer: Michael Nyman

Cast: Philippe Petit

Man On Wire

“Life should be lived on the edge of life. You have to exercise rebellion: to refuse to tape yourself to rules, to refuse your own success, to refuse to repeat yourself, to see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge – and then you are going to live your life on a tightrope.” ~ Philippe Petit

There’s something we can all learn from a man like Philippe Petit. As we grow into adulthood we become all too quickly consumed by the rules set by everyone else. That part of ourselves that once made us curious little daredevils is replaced by submission; we no longer bark “no!” when told we can’t do something, we forget how to laugh in the face of danger and in doing so, we forget how it really feels to be alive.

Petit, who was born in France, was always climbing and no one could stop him, not his parents, not his teachers. It was just something he needed to do, to see the world from a different perspective. At the age of 16 he began wire walking. No one taught him how; he just did it on his own. He mastered the backward somersault, the front somersault, the unicycle, the bicycle, the chair on the wire and jumping through hoops, but he wanted bigger and more daring challenges.

Petit began to look to world famous structures around the world where he could perform his death-defying stunts. In 1971 he performed a high wire walk between the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral. In 1973, he walked a wire rigged between two north pylons on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It wasn’t enough though, there was still something much bigger he wanted to conquer and the more impossible it seemed, the more he wanted to do it.

On August 7th, 1974, just a few days before his 25th birthday, Philippe accomplished what many would call the most astounding “artistic crime” of all time. At 7.15am he stepped off the roof of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, and at 1,362 ft feet in the air, he walked a high wire across to the North Tower. The stunt lasted 45 minutes and in that time he made eight crossings. He also sat on the wire, gave knee salutes and, while lying on the wire, spoke with a gull circling above his head.

Man On Wire

Man On Wire documents this extraordinary feat with archive footage of Petit preparing for the walk and interviews. It also includes footage of the construction of the World Trade Center towers and although there is no footage of the walk itself – it only exists in still photos – the build-up to seeing them is very effective.

Along the way we learn much about this charismatic daredevil and what makes him tick. Petit speaks passionately about the moment he first saw a picture of what the World Trade Center towers would look like (at this point they hadn’t been built yet) and realised his dream. Petit worked with a team of friends and accomplices who helped make his dream real and we also get to hear from them in terms of what part they played and how it affected them. The dedication that went into making this dream a reality comes across very well in the narrative, making Man On Wire feel very much like a heist film with the detailed planning that was involved.

Thankfully, this is not a film that focuses on, or even mentions, the destruction of the World Trade Center towers. Instead, what we get is a film that looks back on a time before such madness, before the world changed and became what it is today. If a film that also reminds us that “impossible” is just a word and shouldn’t be a frame of mind… and that sometimes walking the wire is the only way to live life.

Man On Wire

BACK TO TOP
Patrick Samuel

Patrick Samuel

The founder of Static Mass Emporium and one of its Editors in Chief is an emerging artist with a philosophy degree, working primarily with pastels and graphite pencils, but he also enjoys experimenting with water colours, acrylics, glass and oil paints.

Being on the autistic spectrum with Asperger’s Syndrome, he is stimulated by bold, contrasting colours, intricate details, multiple textures, and varying shades of light and dark. Patrick's work extends to sound and video, and when not drawing or painting, he can be found working on projects he shares online with his followers.

Patrick returned to drawing and painting after a prolonged break in December 2016 as part of his daily art therapy, and is now making the transition to being a full-time artist. As a spokesperson for autism awareness, he also gives talks and presentations on the benefits of creative therapy.

Static Mass is where he lives his passion for film and writing about it. A fan of film classics, documentaries and science fiction, Patrick prefers films with an impeccable way of storytelling that reflect on the human condition.

Patrick Samuel ¦ Asperger Artist

© 2022 STATIC MASS EMPORIUM . All Rights Reserved. Powered by METATEMPUS | creative.timeless.personal.   |   DISCLAIMER, TERMS & CONDITIONS

HOME | ABOUT | CONTACT | TWITTER | GOOGLE+ | FACEBOOK | TUMBLR | YOUTUBE | RSS FEED

CINEMA REVIEWS | BLU-RAY & DVD | THE EMPORIUM | DOCUMENTARIES | WORLD CINEMA | CULT MOVIES | INDIAN CINEMA | EARLY CINEMA

MOVIE CLASSICS | DECONSTRUCTING CINEMA | SOUNDTRACKS | INTERVIEWS | THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR | JAPANESE CINEMA