"Man on Wire" is how they described Philippe Petit in a New York City Police report following his walk across a wire connecting between the Twin Towers in NYC. Why did they simply describe him as this?? Because after what they had seen that day, that magical, special day....those were the only words to describe it, as everyone who saw it was completely wooed. Philippe Petit ran away from home at the age of 15. In Paris he became a street performer, juggler, mime, unicyclist, and soon tied a rope between two trees in the park to learn how to walk across it. From then on he became obsessed with it and after many great wire walks, an amazing one in Australia which is portrayed in the film, his dream became to wire walk across the Twin Towers of New York City in The United States America.
What was so fascinating to me about the film is the way they described how they actually got into the building, up onto the roof, and set everything up. Philippe and a very small handful of men disguised themselves as construction workers with fake badges and accents. They snuck their equipment up to the very top floor to prepare not just once, but many times while the towers were in their final stages of construction. In one scene Philippe and his friend are on the top floor literally sitting straight up underneath a tarp hiding from a security guard for hours until he leaves.
The entire film is building up the that final moment that we all want to see, but trust me, there isn't a hint of boredom along the way. The film does such a great job of showing us previous footage of Philippe's wire walking, interviews with his friends and girlfriend, and of course the suspenseful mission and planning of getting up into the towers. Throughout the entire film I kept saying to myself "WOW", and by the time the last sequence came....I was speechless. It's beauty and joy is purely overwhelming. The site of Philippe fulfilling his dream and acting it out right in front of you after everything he went through was a site on film that I'll NEVER forget. Philippe Petit is one of the most amazing, enthusiastic, loving, and interesting human beings in the world. DO NOT MISS THIS FILM. 5 out of 5.
