I've come sadly to the end of Sunday but I'm still thinking about the documentary I watched on Friday. Man on Wire is a film about Philippe Petit, the tightrope walker/artist/clean out of his mind Frenchman and his equally deranged friends who helped him plan and execute illegal acts of amazing and completely surreal acrobatics.I mean, just look at this photograph. The man sneaked up there with his friends on several occasions and studied how to tie a cable between the twin towers and walked across it eight times. At various times during this insane walk, he lay down on the rope. I have never seen anything like it. The fact that any person could conjure up such a dream, let alone achieve it, is completely mind boggling.
In telling Petit's story, the film manages to be wonderful and funny, sad yet inspiring and leaves you shaking your head in disbelief long after you've seen it. Awestruck, insane, unbelievable--these are the words that come to mind.
Oh the devil take me, I'm not doing the film much justice with my words, but really, just go watch it.
(Photo credit:©2008 Jean-Louis Blondeau / Polaris Images)
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2 comments:
Lucky you. I caught a programme on NPR about this whole stunt, and that was quite lovely itself. The most uplifting bit was the one where they said that for the people of New York, the fact that someone would try something so audacious offered up a beacon of hope in troubled times.
Yes, audacity is the word. There's an interview with the policeman who was on the scene and you can see just how flabbergasted the poor man is...it's really something!
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