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Man on Wire (2008)

Documentary | 94 minutes
3,54 372 votes

Genre: Documentary / Biography

Duration: 94 minuten

Country: United Kingdom / United States

Directed by: James Marsh

Stars: Philippe Petit, Jean François Heckel and Jean-Louis Blondeau

IMDb score: 7,7 (60.815)

Releasedate: 1 August 2008

Man on Wire plot

"1974. 1350 feet up. The artistic crime of the century."

Documentary that tells about the legendary tightrope walker Philippe Petit and his attempt to walk a tightrope between the two buildings of the World Trade Center in New York in 1974. A brave but also illegal act that went down in the books as the 'most artistic crime of the century'.

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avatar van Onderhond

Onderhond

  • 87585 messages
  • 12833 votes

Disappointing (A disappointing documentary? Really?! - Yes really!).

Couple of things that bothered me. First of all, the complete lack of factual information. I had to put in a little too much effort during the documentary itself to figure out why it was all so special what he did. And in the end I come to the conclusion that it was the whole mission itself that was the most difficult, not so much the acrobatic trick itself. Because whether there is 50 meters of air or 400 meters of air under your feet, if you fall you can no longer tell. More wind and more harsh weather conditions? Who will say.

No, the film is more concerned with adding to the myth. Nice that Marsh got the original crew together, but they've clearly told the story once too much and have started to believe in their own exaggerations. Especially Petit himself is insufferable. A Frenchman trying to tell poetically about his venture in broken English… ugh. His then girlfriend is also drowning in the adulation of Petit's achievement. Such a nice story among friends and acquaintances, but not in a documentary.

With Petit's friend I had more. A more sympathetic figure who clearly still bears the traces of the whole event. Furthermore, some nice pictures of course (although I still don't know what makes walking a tightrope at 400 meters more difficult than at 5 meters). The attempt to make it exciting is only half effective, especially the transparent structure of the docu is a bit counterproductive in the beginning (the moments with the guards are also ridiculous), but towards the end it still pays off.

Mno, unsympathetic main character, 200% subjective self-praise, lack of factual information and an event that may appeal to the immediate imagination, but in the end doesn't have the weight you would expect.

1.5*

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van scorsese

scorsese

  • 13150 messages
  • 11067 votes

Excellent documentary about a tightrope walker who manages to walk on a tightrope between the twin towers. This documentary tells this special story almost like an exciting film. Not only fascinating because of the breathtaking and illegal stunt itself, but also because of the entire logistical aspect that came with it. Of course also extra loaded with the knowledge of what would happen more than 17 years later in New York.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van blurp194

blurp194

  • 5484 messages
  • 4187 votes

Nice documentary.

Anyway, a good choice to have the story told by Phillippe Petit himself, he still radiates, so many years later, the tension he must have felt at the moment. That makes the story very much alive - as does everyone else involved, despite some obviously doing so with mixed feelings.

And in style and narration so much stronger than the somewhat sought-after and contrived acting of Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the otherwise very similar The Walk (2015) - of which the content is almost the same, it is a bit redundant to see both. I think this documentary is a lot better in comparison.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original