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Moviola > Films > Man on Wire
Man on Wire (12) 90 minsOn August 7, 1974, a young Frenchman named Philippe Petit stepped out on a wire illegally rigged between New York's twin towers, then the world's tallest buildings. After nearly an hour dancing on the wire, he was arrested, taken for psychological evaluation, and brought to jail before finally being released. Following six and a half years of dreaming of the towers, Petit spent 8 months in New York City planning the execution of the coup. Aided by a team of friends and accomplices, Petit was faced with numerous extraordinary challenges: he had to find a way to bypass the WTC's security, smuggle the heavy steel cable and rigging equipment into the towers, pass the wire between the two rooftops, anchor the wire and tension it to withstand the winds and the swaying of the buildings. The rigging was done by night in complete secrecy. At 7.15 am, Philippe took his first step on the high wire 1350 feet above the sidewalks of Manhattan... "Nut, conman or artist? Man on Wire is a film with everything - truth, drama, suspense, tension, sex, heartbreak, humour, crime and triumph. The fact that the Twin Towers are at the centre of this controversial and astonishing story about a rebellious French tightrope walker whose dream was to conquer impossible but beautiful challenges, adds an additional layer of poignancy. Sometimes there is no why, Philippe Petit answers to the many who ask why he wanted to illicitly walk a tightrope between the two tallest buildings in the world. We hear first hand how it all came about in this gripping and incredibly moving documentary which combines interviews, re-enactments and archival footage of not only the event itself when the crowds of New York gaped wide eyed as their heads turned to the heavens, but the painstaking planning and preparation involved." Urban Cinefile
Last modified: 11-Aug-2009 |
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