Man on Wire

I should have listened. I mean, I had heard about the story of Philippe Petit and his daring feats of wire walking before. I had read the reviews and heard all the accolades. I had even seen the cover, which should have instantly piqued my interest. But for whatever reason, my interest in the film never quite clicked until recently. Sometimes I think the hustle and bustle of life causes us to miss some of life's most subtle miracles, and I definitely think the story behind this documentary is one of the most beautiful, and perhaps the most tragic.

The story of Philippe Petit is one of a man with a passion; a dream that led him to attempt one of the most daring feats imaginable: to wire walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center. The courage it would take to accomplish this dream would mean so much more than just having the balls to wire walk 120 stories up. It would mean testing his relationships with everyone he knew, avoiding being caught by the authorities and overcoming the simple fear of failure. It's all very touching, but nothing saddened me more than knowing that these giant, towering artifacts that were so briefly tied together by this man's dream are now gone forever. Philippe didn't die on this glorious occasion - this glorious "coup" as they called it - but he did sacrifice his whole life just to reach his ultimate goal.

One of the most powerful voices of the film is Philippe himself. He spews like a madman retelling the story of some great legend of old, only that legend was actually him. He illuminates every minute detail of the event like it just happened. Obviously, this is the penultimate event in this man's life. He knows every detail by heart because he's relived it every day since it happened. You can feel his passion even through his broken English. It sounds every bit too good to be true. Until you see it happen. Even when you're looking at the pictures of him walking across this wire, it still seems like there's absolutely no way. That's what makes this story so extraordinary.

Petit gave everything he had to meet this glory and to revel in it. His girlfriend left him. His best friend ex-communicated him. Even some of the people helping him abandoned the dream midway through its execution. It was Philippe's greatest adventure, and with it came a completely new phase in his life. Once you've accomplished what you've set out to do, what is there left? Obviously, Philippe still walks across wires, but never will it resonate as it did then, when he lay amongst the clouds.