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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready....
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Since 1996 |
Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready....
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Man on Wire Documentary with interviews of Philippe Petit Director: James Marsh Magnolia Films Rating: PG 13 for language (some subtitles) Running Length: 95 minutes Winner of Sundance Audience Award 2008 If you think looking out of a ten story building is scary, think of walking on a thin, flexible metal cable stretched between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. This feat was done by high wire artist Philippe Petit on August 7, 1974 when the World Trade Center still stood. This documentary by James Marsh is a look backward in time as we remember not only the feat, but the man who did it and the building that caused it to be done. No safety net, remember. When Petit saw a picture of the Trade Center going up, he became obsessed with the idea of walking the twin towers. He and his group worked for years on the logistics of wire, balancing bar, footwear and finally just getting to America and sneaking into the construction site so they could carry this monumental task off. In fact, outlining what the group went through, is a blueprint for any organization on how to gain entrance (fake ID) and hide in a building (under a canvas.) How to get the wire across that distance was solved by shooting an arrow with a light rope that gradually made it’s way around the wire that came across the chasm. By this time, I had goose bumps. Petit, a man with a purpose and no one stands in his way, practiced in France on a wire and then by walking the Sydney Harbour Bridge. He uses 450 pound cable and a 26 foot long, 55 pound pole. Shoes resemble those of a ballet dancer, which is what he seems to be as he rhythmically walks the wire. On August 7, 1974, Petit actually made eight crossings between the towers, guards on each side, and was up there 45 minutes. No running film exists, but there are still photographs including one pointing straight down 1200 feet. There is a great photo of him on the right side of the picture and an airplane in the sky on the left hand side. At one point, he even lays down on the wire. My goose bumps had goose bumps at this point. In the end, Petit was arrested, but charged only with trespassing and eventually got a life time pass to visit the Trade Center. Other famous walks he has done include the Hennepin County Government Center in Minnesota, and between the Palais de Chaillot and Eiffel Tower in Paris. Petit currently lives in New York and is a creative consultant at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Man on Wire tells the story of a man with a dream. It may not be the dream of every man, but his dream carried us with him to places we would only dream about. As you can imagine, photography is excellent. Copyright 2008 Marie Asner
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