Man On Wire

 

Here is my inaugural review on The Upper Crust and I couldn't be more excited that Man On Wire was the first movie that I have chosen to review. Let me get a bunch of superlatives out of the way right up front... if you see this movie and you don't absolutely fall in love with it, then I don't even want to know you. If you don't absolutely love this movie then you are a miser, with no heart and no soul and may want to go to the doctor and have some x-rays done to see if you are really a cyborg sent from the future to destroy humanity. Rarely have I seen a film that I thought was truly perfect from beginning to end, nor have I seen a film that has been so life affirming and filled with such wonder and beauty. 

James Marsh's documentary tells the tale of a French artist, juggler and wire walker named Philippe Pettit and his obsession with affixing a wire between the World Trade Center towers and walking across it in 1974. Now just saying this out loud seems pretty cool right? But the way that this story is told is unique and stunning. Much of the documentary plays out like a bank heist or thriller and will literally have your pulse pounding. It is essentially a movie of interviews with the people involved in pulling off this monumental feat, cut together with vintage footage and recreated footage. Let me say that the recreated footage never seems hokey or silly, but blends seamlessly to create an incredibly tense, taut and beautiful story. Everything is note perfect, including the score. The true star here is the subject of the film, Philippe Pettit. 

(Now I do want to kind of get this out of the way here, I will do a brief synopsis, but the real beauty of this film is experiencing it for the first time. I truly can't remember the last time I left a film and felt invigorated, and had my head spinning with the possibility of life; but that is the beauty of Man On Wire.)

Philippe Pettit from a young age loved to climb. In his youth he became a street performer in Paris; juggling, performing magic, riding a unicycle all over town dressed in black, wearing a top hat -- all the stupid shit that I would normally hate. But the true beauty of Phillipe is that he loves to be subversive and basically give the finger to the establishment, but in a non-threatening way. He first dreams up his big wire walking feat when he sees an article in the newspaper talking about how the World Trade Towers are being built. He sees an artists rendering of how the towers will look and draws a line from tower to tower, deciding then and there that he will one day, somehow, wire walk between the two towers. The rest of the film is Philippe and his singular obsession with accomplishing his new goal. This man has a vision, and will do anything he can to accomplish it. The way that he does accomplish it is by inspiring his friends with his enthusiasm for life, art and adventure. 

 He does a few wire walking feats that lead up to the tower walks; the first big act being wire walking between two towers at Notre Dame. He is of course arrested, but who can really be mad at someone for doing something so amazing and harmless? Philippe defies death and inspires people, even if for a brief moment. Phillipe's goal is to prove to himself that he can achieve the impossible, and inspire people to try and do the same, which is truly what this film is about - inspiration. 

After his wire walking at Notre Dame, years of planning go into Phillipe's dream of walking between the towers and  he and his band of friends approach the task much like a bank robbery; they case the joint, procure fake id's, have complete diagrams, take tons of surveillance photos on their many illegal and ingenious trips to the top of the unfinished towers, enlist the help of people who work at the towers, recreate the length of the wire from tower to tower in a field and even simulate the weather by trying to knock Phillipe of the wire as he practices walking the wire. Really, the amount of planning that went into his stunt is staggering. Obviously he achieves his goal, which isn't much of a spoiler since that is what the documentary is about,  but what is truly amazing, is that he manages to inspire and amaze everyone who sees his wire walking act, and everyone who reads about his stunt; for one brief moment he is able to spark the imagination of all who he encounters. After completing his walk, there is an interview with a NYC police officer who was trying to arrest him while he was walking back and forth between the two towers, and the look on his face is priceless. You can tell just by looking at him that he is completely amazed and baffled, and that he knew he saw something special. This jaded, 1970's New York Police officer has probably seen shit that you and I could only imagine, and when he is being interviewed he basically says that he knew he would never see anything this amazing ever again in his life.  Sure Phillipe broke the law, and when the police demanded he come down, he just taunted them and continued to walk the wire an astonishing 7 more times, but you could tell that there was no malice in his actions. He had achieved his dream and he was reveling in this singular moment that had never been accomplished by anyone in the world and would never be repeated by anyone again. Yes, he broke the law, but it was art and it was inspiring, just as Man On Wire is a work of art and is truly inspiring.

My review really doesn't do justice to Man On Wire. It was an uplifting and life affirming documentary. I walked out completely invigorated and on fire with the possibility that life has to offer. It is easily the best movie of the year and I think it is one of the best cinematic experiences I can remember having in a theatre. Everyone should run, not walk, to see this if it is playing near them. My piss poor review is not even coming close to doing it justice, but all I can say is that it has easily shot into my top ten films of all time. If this doesn't win the Oscar for best documentary, then the Oscars can forever, in perpetuity, suck my balls.