![]() The miniature mock-ups of the top of the towers (handsome, and in wood). There is the conception, the reconnaissance, the gathering of accomplices, some of whom out of wisdom or fear opt out, even up to the last minute. If you could make a documentary about a successful robbery, it might be something like James Marsh's film about this event. They took in a ton of equipment, most importantly enough heavy wire and support wire to secure his pathway across the towers. They stole nothing, except the air, our breath. Some call it "the art heist of the century." But it's not an ordinary heist. Like his earlier walks between towers of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris and pylons of the Sydney Harbor Bridge, only more so, Petit's walk on a wire between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, the tallest buildings in New York City, was illegal, a 'rififi,' a break-in, a caper. A tightrope walker: the epitome of risk-taking Only this time he increased the risk. It was as if it was invented just for him. When he was seventeen, before the World Trade Center was even built, he knew it had to be his. Philippe Petit is a clown, a sprite, a magician, an athlete, and a dancer. ![]() Why is it that walking across a wire up in the air can be an aesthetic experience so exalted it brings you to tears? I don't know, but that's what 'Man on Wire' is about. ![]() No question why this film needed to be made. ![]() After the long slow methodical buildup, when the moment comes, calmly accompanied by a famous piece for solo piano by Eric Satie, it is so awesome, so still, so transcendent it makes you cry. What does Philippe Petit do now? Is he Professor of Advanced Balance at the Sorbonne? Is ha a therapist dealing exclusively in acrophobia? He seems to be a man so specialized that he was meant in life to do only one thing, at one time, and this film is about that moment and shows why a moment-a half hour, actually, in the early morning of August 7, 1974-can define a life and reshape one's perceptions. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |