Man On Wire Sublime

On occasion, a person’s motivations have the power to make their dreams a reality. This is clearly seen in the story of Philippe Petit and his dream as a young adult to tightrope walk between the infamous Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. In August 1974, Petit achieved this goal. Many years after his momentous performance, a documentary titled Man on Wire was created to capture the events that occured prior and subsequent to Petit’s most famous walk. The movie includes a series of interviews from those involved with Petit and the man himself, reenacted video clips and actual pictures. Overall the movie has been well received and even notable movie critics have given some of their own thoughts on this movie. The movie Man on Wire directed by James Marsh is an elegantly constructed documentary that fascinates and inspires any person that watches to follow their own desires.

The movie provides the audience with a storyline capable of capturing their full attention. The collection of

all the different video clips really helps to tell the story in a way that interests the audience. Movie critic Ken Fox claims, “The film runs 95 minutes, and you'll be holding your breath for most of them.” Though the movie is completely nonfiction and the audience already knows that Petit’s mission is successful, it is still filled with the element of suspense. Instead of the audience being captivated by the thought of what Petit is going to do, they are entertained by the thought of how Petit is going to do it. The reenacted video clips that are incorporated into the movie look incredibly realistic, making such a fantastical undertaking feel more tangible and attainable. Listening to Petit pour out his passion within the interviews also intrigues the audience.
Though the movie’s storyline is incredibly interesting, some parts are confusing because the events are not told in chronological order. The director chooses to follow the chronological timeline of events until some point where the storyline switches between the actual event at the World Trade Center and then the process before it. In his review of the documentary, Robert Ebert says, “Ingeniously using actors and restaging events, Marsh fleshes out the story with scenes that could never have been filmed….” The praise given to the film’s reenacted scenes is well appropriate, as it really takes viewers into the world of those involved in the tightrope walk. The whole premise of this event is already a such a grand story to tell, so it was natural for it’s telling to be just as grandiose. However, I feel that the lack of clarity took away from some of this feeling. It was not entirely clear until minutes after the start of a new scene when the story would shift backwards chronologically and then back again to where it started. Even though the storyline was eventually understood, it is easy for the audience to get lost in the telling of it.
However impressive at times, the cinematographic elements that are incorporated in the movie are often jarring and awkward.

There are moments in the movie where the transition between different scenes did not feel smooth. Peter Bradshaw says in his criticism, “James Marsh's documentary about this sublime piece of audacity does full justice to Petit's vision.” I do believe that the combination of reenactments and interview video clips contributed to the beauty of the film. The way that the reenactments were shot was so well done that it was hard to discern actual footage from a reproduction. There were just some elements of the cinematography that could have been done differently in order to fit more appropriately. Not all the transitions were smooth and the use of the hard light on the people being introduced for an interview were borderline gimmicky. Despite this negative criticism, however, I feel as though they contribute to the movie’s ability to capture the audience’s

attention.
Man on Wire is a well developed and produced documentary capable of mesmerizing and emotionally impacting its audience. Philippe Petit’s story starts off as a fantasy, seemingly unrealistic and past surreal. However, Petit’s drive and motivation along with the support of many others are what allows him to complete such a feat that will go down in history. It is this spirited initiative that enthralls viewers of this documentary. The passion from the man himself is clearly shown when he retells multiple events within the movie. The telling of Petit’s story is nicely presented by many interviews conducted with various people involved and remarkably done reenactments. Petit’s story illustrates how any person is capable of achieving their goals once they set their mind to it, even if their head is in the clouds.