Back in 1966, the Twin Towers were yet to be built. The French high wire artist Philippe Petit read about the futuristic building plans during a visit to the dentist. The Eiffel Tower paled in comparison to these soon-to-be tallest buildings on earth! In a moment of inspiration, the 17-year-old drew a line between them.
In Man on Wire, the British director James Marsh (Wisconsin Death Trip (1999), The King (2005)) reconstructs how Petit and his accomplices attempted to achieve the impossible in the years that followed. By editing their stories over original archive footage of the long-haired 20-year-olds messing around with cables and sticks in a field in provincial France, the film gets an intimate feeling. Marsh constantly switches between the preparations and the day of the feat, building the tension in the process. When the magic moment has finally arrived, on 26 August 1974 at seven in the morning, the viewer believes he is the witness to something unique. Man on Wire, which won the Sundance World Cinema Audience Award, is an audience-friendly film without the cheap sentiment.