Release Date: 1 August 2008

Cert: 12a

Running Time: 94 mins

In 1974 french high wire walker, Phillippe Petit perpetrated what became known as the “artistic crime of the century” when he spent 45 minutes pacing between the world trade centres in New York. Man On Wire captures the magic of the events on the day and the intense planning that went into the evading the security of the towers. Director, James Marsh uses file footage, interviews with Petit and his associates and dramatizations to combine the life story of Petit, the erection of the towers and the famous stroll on the wire in a non-linear 94 minutes that will not dissapoint.

The last seven and a half years have seen many documentaries about the twin towers but this one is a breath of fresh air, as the excitement of the erection of the towers jars with the more familiar footage of their destruction of other docs. Petit tells of how he fell in love with the towers the moment he heard about them. He knew when he read about them in a dentists surgery waiting room at the age of seventeen that he would one day dance between them. It would have been easy to dwell on the circumstances that surrounded their demise, but Marsh avoids the tragedy completely and instead focuses on the brilliance of Petit’s achievement. In the interviews Petit and his accomplices speak of the the day with a child-like exuberance that makes you wish you witnessed the wonderful wander.

The main draw of the film is the personality of Petit. The man is a born entertainer and this comes across vividly from footage of him clowning around (literally), to his interviews which will keep you captivated as he exudes charm from every pore. He makes the most mundane elements of the story gripping and keeps you hanging on his every word the way a novice tight-rope walker clings to their wire.

Winner of the Audience Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival the movie is more than a documentary. Petit’s infatuation with the towers plays out like a love story. The planning and organisation around bypassing security plays out like a heist that rivals Ocean’s Eleven. And the unbelievable accomplishment achieved by Petit outdoes the plot of any fantasy film.

Set against the backdrop of the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam war, Man On Wire tells the story of a terrific toddle that took people’s attention away from the negativity that was taking over the world at the time. The recesion is hitting us at the moment, the Summer has been a non-starter and the towers are gone. Nobody can recreate Petit’s feat so take this opportunity to look back and smile.