For those wanting to see an exhilarating heist-like movie showcasing Philippe Petit’s once in a lifetime walk between the Twin Towers in 1974, I’d recommend watching the 2008 Academy Award winning documentary MAN ON WIRE. For those who want to see even more Philippe, I’d recommend the second half of Robert Zemeckis’s bio-drama THE WALK. Using 3D to paint the inside of Philippe’s head, the New York half of the movie focuses on the wire and the towers, creating a heist film-like appeal with a payoff worth much more than money. The first half of the production however drowns itself in French romanticism and cutesiness, until Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s thick Parisian accent feels like its beating you with a baguette. Nevertheless, the film as a whole comes together to present a WHIPLASH-style argument that sometimes craziness is necessary to create something incredible.
In August of 1974, Philippe Petit, at age 25, strung a high-wire and spent 45 minutes, eight passes, between the Twin Towers. Setting up the wire required a bow and arrow, multiple disguises, six accomplices, and seven years of planning. They referred to the event as an artistic “coup.” When asked why he responded “There is no why. When I see a beautiful place to put my wire I cannot resist.”
The first half of the film takes place in Paris as Petit grows up and slowly recruits accomplices for his coup, during which the movie adopts a tone of cartoon-ish romanticism, opening up in black and white save certain objects in each scene saturated with strong colors. It’s nearly comedic the artsy way Gordon-Levitt lengths a piece of string between his thumbs whenever he is imagining his tightrope between trees or lampposts, as if he is a sculptor surveying his mold. The film wants to make the argument that wire-walking is art, but his has to recognize the difference between wire-walking and more traditional art forms. When Petit first learns of the Twin Towers project in a magazine, the music swells and we spend much longer than should be allowed watching Petit draw a straight line between two buildings. 3D objects are often sent flying toward the audience all while Gordon-Levitt hams up the narration perched on The Statue of liberty with the Twin Towers glowing in the background.
Luckily, the second half of the film ditches the cutesy tone for a fun heist one. Petit makes constant trips to the towers dressed in various disguises and the members of the crew all get fun personalities that contribute to a collective mission. The craziness feels earned as the characters begin their highly illegal ascent to the top of the World Trade Center. The climax is the most convincing argument the film puts out that wire-walking is art, as Petit spends his hour among the clouds the 3D plays its true purpose in expressing the beauty he felt walking 110 stories off of the ground. The camera surrounds Petit during his walk leaving a feeling of catharsis. The swelling music and compelling visuals create a feeling that this was more than a stunt: it truly was an artistic coup. After Petit’s coup the people of New York began to appreciate The Towers more than ever before.
