Man on Wire

I had heard about the documentary 'Man on Wire' before I watched it win the Oscar.  I hadn't seen any of the documentaries nominated this year, but it beat a Werner Herzog movie to the award and that was enough to pique my interest.

Thanks to Netflix streaming, I was able to watch it yesterday.  I was 10 minutes into the movie when I realized that I was on the edge of my seat watching a non-fiction, documentary film.  As a young man in the 70's Philippe Petit pulled off a stunt where he walked on a wire between the tops of the tallest buildings at the time, the twin towers of the WTC.

The documentary shows how he and his motley crew of friends and other interested parties helped him plan and achieve his dream.  For me the most fascinating part of the movie was when Philippe explains his helplessness when he waits for the twin towers to be built so he can realize his dream.  The movie combines footage from Philippe's young years practising wirewalking along with staged scenes explaining how they got all the equipment and manpower needed to the top floors of both buildings to give us a fascinating account of the events.

If you are into documentaries, this is a must-watch.