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IMDbPro

Man on Wire

  • 20082008
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
56K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
11,779
348
Man on Wire (2008)
Man on Wire Trailer
Play trailer2:11
7 Videos
76 Photos
DocumentaryBiographyCrime
A look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artist... Read allA look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artistic crime of the century".A look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artistic crime of the century".
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
56K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
11,779
348
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • James Marsh
    • Writer
      • Philippe Petit(based on the book "To Reach the Clouds" by)
    • Stars
      • Philippe Petit
      • Jean François Heckel
      • Jean-Louis Blondeau
    Top credits
    • Director
      • James Marsh
    • Writer
      • Philippe Petit(based on the book "To Reach the Clouds" by)
    • Stars
      • Philippe Petit
      • Jean François Heckel
      • Jean-Louis Blondeau
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 176User reviews
    • 198Critic reviews
    • 89Metascore
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 46 wins & 13 nominations total

    Videos7

    Man on Wire
    Trailer 2:11
    Man on Wire
    Man On Wire
    Clip 1:28
    Man On Wire
    Man On Wire
    Clip 0:37
    Man On Wire
    Man On Wire
    Clip 1:16
    Man On Wire
    Man On Wire
    Clip 0:52
    Man On Wire
    Man On Wire
    Clip 0:58
    Man On Wire
    Man On Wire
    Clip 0:47
    Man On Wire

    Photos76

    Philippe Petit in Man on Wire (2008)
    Philippe Petit in Man on Wire (2008)
    Philippe Petit in Man on Wire (2008)
    James Marsh in Man on Wire (2008)
    Man on Wire (2008)
    James Marsh at an event for Man on Wire (2008)
    Philippe Petit at an event for Man on Wire (2008)
    Philippe Petit at an event for Man on Wire (2008)
    Philippe Petit and James Marsh at an event for Man on Wire (2008)
    Dick Cavett, Philippe Petit, and James Marsh at an event for Man on Wire (2008)
    Dick Cavett at an event for Man on Wire (2008)
    Philippe Petit at an event for Man on Wire (2008)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Philippe Petit
    Philippe Petit
    • Self
    Jean François Heckel
    Jean François Heckel
    • Self
    • (as Jean-François Heckel)
    Jean-Louis Blondeau
    Jean-Louis Blondeau
    • Self
    Annie Allix
    Annie Allix
    • Self
    David Forman
    David Forman
    • Self
    Alan Welner
    Alan Welner
    • Self
    Mark Lewis
    Mark Lewis
    • Self
    Barry Greenhouse
    Barry Greenhouse
    • Self
    • (as N. Barry Greenhouse)
    Jim Moore
    Jim Moore
    • Self
    Guy F. Tozzoli
    • Self
    • (as Guy Tozzoli)
    Paul McGill
    Paul McGill
    • Philippe - Drama Reconstructions
    David Demato
    • Jean-Louis - Drama Reconstructions
    Ardis Campbell
    • Annie - Drama Reconstructions
    Aaron Haskell
    • Jean-François - Drama Reconstructions
    Shawn Dempewolff-Barrett
    • David - Drama Reconstructions
    • (as Shawn Dempewolff)
    David Roland Frank
    • Alan - Drama Reconstructions
    • (as David Frank)
    Megan Delay
    • The Admirer - Drama Reconstructions
    Laurence Gates
    • Dentist
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • James Marsh
    • Writer
      • Philippe Petit(based on the book "To Reach the Clouds" by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Low on money for the Sydney Harbor Bridge walk, Philippe Petit got the cable in exchange for an impromptu juggling and magic show he put on for employees.
    • Goofs
      In the reenaction of Philippe Petit and his friend hiding from the night watchman at the WTC, a box on the floor has a present-day USPS logo.
    • Quotes

      Philippe Petit: Life should be lived on the edge of life. You have to exercise rebellion: to refuse to tape yourself to rules, to refuse your own success, to refuse to repeat yourself, to see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge - and then you are going to live your life on a tightrope.

    • Connections
      Featured in The Orange British Academy Film Awards (2009)
    • Soundtracks
      Leaving Home
      Written by J. Ralph

      Published by Tubby and the Spaniard Music Publishing

    User reviews176

    Review
    Top review
    If I Die? What a Beautiful Death!
    Man on Wire (2008) ****

    There was no why. No rhyme or reason, other than the fact that those towers existed. Existed, as one friend notes, for Philippe Petit to walk between them. People have always found it difficult to comprehend that Petit wire walked between the World Trade Center towers, nearly 1400 feet above the ground, without being able to justify his cause. Petit once simply stated that when he sees oranges, he juggles; when he sees two towers, he walks.

    The story of how Petit and his motley crew pulled off the stunt is just as interesting as the walk itself. That day in August 1974 and the events which lead up to it are the focus of James Marsh's incredible documentary, Man on Wire. Marsh mixes documentary footage, provided by Petit and his colleagues, with reconstructions, blended so seamlessly every foot of film might as well be authentic. Petit and his friends tell the story with eager enthusiasm, particularly Petit himself. He is a man like no other. He is a ball of energy and charisma, completely harmless to everyone but perhaps himself. He has remained a child at heart.

    He details the moment when he first concocted the idea to walk between the towers. While sitting in a dentist's chair, waiting to have a tooth fixed, he catches a glimpse of the towers as they are being constructed in a newspaper. He ran out of the dentist's office in a state of grace. He gleefully recounts that he didn't stick around to get his tooth fixed, and suffered the pain for weeks. But pain was no matter, he'd found his dream. He described his intentions not as a wire walker setting out to conquering heights, but as a poet looking to conquer the stage. A friend recounts that each day for Philippe was a work of art.

    Petit had walked between the towers at Notre Dame, and the harbour bridge in Sydney. He was always arrested afterward of course. How joyful that when he was arrested after completing his feat in Sydney that his first order of business was to pick the watch of the police man arresting him for a gag! His reckless love for what he was doing was not fool hardy though. "The fact that death frames what you are doing makes you take it very seriously," he explains. Death was of course on his mind, but his aims were as a poet, a dreamer, an artist - not a dare devil: "If I die, what a beautiful death!" To accomplish his walk between the towers required months of preparation. The crew practiced in a field in France, with a wire the exact length between the towers. To mimic conditions, he had his friends jump and pull on the wires. He never loses balance, his concentration is impeccable. But the work doesn't end just with practice. They had to get nearly a ton of equipment to the top, all without being discovered - at least as impossible as the walk itself. They had to somehow get the rope across. How they do so is ingenious. They acquired id's to get inside, dressed as a mix of businessmen and construction workers (the towers were still partially under construction. One of the most incredible parts of the story is the night they went up to set everything up and do the walk. They're interrupted by a security guard as they begin unpacking. Philippe and his friend Jean-Francois have to run and hide under a tarp, on a beam above the WTC's 400 meter elevator shaft. They hide there, their bodies tangled, not moving, not speaking, for hours waiting for the guard to leave.

    Man on Wire is built like a suspense film. It's engrossing and expertly crafted, and told with the passion and thoroughness of oral storytellers of old. Philippe Petit speaks as if he were reciting poetry in his thick French accent. Marsh accentuates the action with pitch perfect choices in the soundtrack, ranging from Satie and other classics to the disco classic A Fifth of Beethoven.

    When Petit finally makes his walk, his friends gathered to watch below as he either committed suicide or one of the most poetic crimes of the century, the emotion is overwhelming. He recounts it with unbridled joy, his friends with tears in their eyes. I too was nearly moved to tears of joy. I can't remember the last documentary film to strike such a chord.

    If Petit had of failed, he would have fallen to his death and likely been remembered as "that idiot." Petit recalls thinking with one foot on the wire, that to place his other foot on it and take that step was probably going to be the end of his life. Well, this life. If he fell, he would have fallen "to another life." That was his philosophy. But he didn't fall. He made it, 8 times. One police officer describes him as a dancer - he didn't just walk. He taunted police, laid down, knelt down. He had the time of his life. He was arrested with force as soon as he stepped onto the south tower - the police did not take kindly to his taunts. The charge: trespassing and disturbing the peace. The sentence: perform a show for the kids in the park as penance.

    There is something so life affirming about one man boldly walking into what should have been his demise. People responded to his act of daring as if he had given charity. In a way, he had. His performance was a gift to the world. What that gift was is as abstract as the reasons for the walk itself. Sometimes we don't know why something is beautiful, we just know it is. What Philippe Petit did was beautiful, a work of poetic grandeur. Why I do not know. Words do not exist to explain. I just know.
    helpful•44
    6
    • MacAindrais
    • Nov 13, 2008

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 29, 2008 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Людина на канаті
    • Filming locations
      • World Trade Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
    • Production companies
      • Discovery Films
      • BBC Storyville
      • UK Film Council
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • £1,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $2,962,242
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $51,392
      • Jul 27, 2008
    • Gross worldwide
      • $5,258,569
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 34 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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