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Man on Wire

United States, United Kingdom

2008

94 Min
Color
1.85:1
French, English
  • Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
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DIR James Marsh

EXEC Nick Fraser, Jonathan Hewes, Andrea Meditch

PROD Simon Chinn

SCR Philippe Petit

DP Igor Martinović

CAST Philippe Petit, Annie Allix, Paul McGill, David Roland Frank

ED Jinx Godfrey

MUSIC Michael Nyman, J. Ralph

Sundance (World Cinema Documentary Competition): Grand Jury Prize, Audience Award, Karlovy Vary (Documentary Competition): Best Documentary, Tribeca (Spotlight), Edinburgh (British Gala)

Synopsis

On August 7, 1974, Philippe Petit, a French wire walker, juggler, and street performer days shy of his 25th birthday, spent 45 minutes walking, dancing, kneeling, and lying on a wire he and friends strung between the rooftops of the Twin Towers. Uses contemporary interviews, archival footage, and recreations to tell the story of his previous walks between towers of Notre Dame and of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, his passions and friendships, and the details of the night before the walk: getting cable into the towers, hiding from guards, and mounting the wire. It ends with observations of the profound changes the walk’s success brought to Philippe and those closest to him. —IMDb

Director

Original

James Marsh

James Marsh is a director of both documentary and narrative feature films. His most recent dramatic film, Red Riding: 1980, was released by the IFC in 2010. Marsh’s documentary Man on Wire premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Jury Prize and the Audience Award, and garnered the Academy Award for best documentary the following year. Marsh’s earlier work includes the feature film The King (Un Certain Regard, 2005 Cannes International Film Festival) and the documentary hybrid Wisconsin Death Trip. –Sundance 

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Kirby

8Feb12

An inspiring and amazing documentary about an inspiring and amazing man. My only disappointment with the film is that the only footage of the moment everyone waited for were a handful of still images. It can't be helped, but the film is still amazing.

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Joseph Hefner

10Jan12

An enlightening and richly entertaining documentary about the importance of free expression, the rebellion against social norms and the very human desire to take extraordinary risks.

IndyLIVE

5Jan12

Incredible and inspiring. The moment when it cuts to the still photo of people in the street looking up at the Twin Towers and seeing not death or horror or destruction, but the beautiful sight of an eccentric man fulfilling his dream of walking a tightrope between them, I started crying and I couldn't stop. Phillipe Petit is a wonderful human being.

Robby Justiss

15Dec11

This film is truly, truly beautiful. Mr. Marsh takes a intriguing story and makes it the most interesting documentary ever made.

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Articles

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MAN ON WIRE- Magnolia Home Entertainment

By Twitchfilm.com on May 17, 2011
Man on Wire won the Academy Award for best doc this year and I have a hard time arguing with that. It manages to take what may be the most foolhardy guerilla art action of the seventies and reveals……
read on Twitchfilm.com

MAN ON WIRE- Magnolia Home Entertainment

By Twitchfilm.net on July 17, 2010
Man on Wire won the Academy Award for best doc this year and I have a hard time arguing with that. It manages to take what may be the most foolhardy guerilla art action of the seventies and reveals…
read on Twitchfilm.net

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Reviews

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Film review: Man on Wire

By Miasma on December 27, 2010

Man on Wire

Grade: B
Cast: Philippe Petit
Director: James Marsh
Rated PG-13 for some sexuality and nudity, and drug references.
Runtime: 94 min
Release Company…  read review

count me in Aguirre !!!

By KALTEN KRIEG on June 30, 2010

Really wonderfull documentary and re-enactment in many ways. Considering that the world press&media presents daily world& current events that are at least dis-enchanting and are presented…  read review

Exercising Rebellion

By Mugino on December 31, 2009

There are people who love professional mimes, jugglers and contortionists. I am not one of them. People like me don’t really understand why anyone would want to turn miming into a profession, aside…  read review

The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze

By MostlyD​ead on December 27, 2009

As far as I know, the memory of Philippe Petit’s successful attempt to tightrope across the World Trade Center was rediscovered after the 9/11 terrorist attack. Man On Wire is a brilliant account of…  read review

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