Man on Wire

Kenneth Turan awards "Man on Wire" a critics' choice:

This intoxicating documentary about Philippe Petit's 1974 walk between the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center delivers exactly the film you're expecting when you look at photographs of this amazing event. A rare double winner of both Sundance's jury prize and its audience award, this picture is made with the human interest of a psychological drama, the "You Are There" factor of a classic documentary and the pace of a thriller.

Synopsis "Man on Wire"

On August 7th 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 he was finally released. Following six and a half years of dreaming of the towers, Petit spent eight months in New York City planning the execution of the coup. 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. James Marsh’s documentary brings Petit’s extraordinary adventure to life through the testimony of Philippe himself, and some of the co-conspirators who helped him create the unique and magnificent spectacle that became known as “the artistic crime of the century.”

Director: James Marsh
Genres: Biography, Law & Crime, Culture & Society, Performance Art Opened July 25, 2008 Runtime:1 hr. 30 min. PG-13