Sunday, May 23, 2010

NYPD violations report: "Man on Wire"


J Marks, Shreveport
Originally uploaded by trudeau
Philippe Petit shifted his weight from his left foot, which was on the edge of the top of the World Trace Center's North Tower, to his right foot, which folded over the thick wire that he and his accomplices had painstakingly and secretly suspended between the twin towers. One of mankind's most glorious ventures had begun. The amazing walk of Petit on a wire strung between the towers of the World Trade Center took place in 1974. The documentary that revisits his feat, Man On Wire, was produced in 2008.

An award-winning movie of some 94 minutes, Man on Wire effectively blends footage of Petit at home in Paris - on a unicycle, with top hat - with footage of the construction of the WTC. He and his partners watched the completion of the towers as though they were terrorists. Through a torturous night in which the conspirators had to hide from the building's guards, the viewer emerges with Petit on a muggy morning in August in which the feat took place. The film of his dance on the wire above NYC is bellspinding.

Man on Wire is a highly recommendable movie, for it shows us a man who lives for adventure. Monsieur Petit, an athlete who is a spitfire and philosopher, challenges his viewers to move to the edge of our comfort zones.

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