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Man on Wire Response
Phillip Petit is quite the character to say the least. The film portrayed him as being playful, zealous, charismatic, theatrical, and an overall very likable person. Furthermore, the surprisingly unwavering loyalty of his friends surprised me especially his girlfriend who claimed she didn’t truly have a destiny of her own her destiny was to help Phillip achieve his dream. Although his relentless dream of walking between the Twin Towers was a bit far-fetched and slightly odd it was extremely admirable. There is a strange beauty in the scenes where he finally achieves this. The idea of being in this kind of surreal isolation above a beautiful city living out a dream which nobody thought feasible is absolutely astounding.
Unfortunately, the aftermath of Petit’s achievement had me frustrated and saddened. I think Petit let the adrenaline rush and overwhelming moment of fame get to his head. He seemed to have disregarded the devotion of the loved ones who helped him fulfill his aspirations and move past that era of his life. Although the interviews with his girlfriend and closest companions revealed their resignation at Petit’s negligence after his huge achievement I could see that they were still hurt.
As he breaks out into a smile with the comfort of the tightrope beneath his feet in complete certainty I was struck with a feeling of admiration and jealousy that he had found something in his life that he was so passionate about, something he was more than willing to die for. I found myself inspired to seek out something which I love that much in the world that I can utterly devote myself to so entirely and secu
Man On Wire
For some odd reason, I feel as if the beginning of any documentary is bound to bore me, however, as this particular film went on, past a certain point I could not peel my eyes off that screen. I was so intrigued by the process Phillipe and his crew had to go through in order for him just to walk that tightrope between the Twin Towers. So to me, the feat that amazed me and demanded my attention the most was not necessarily the actual walk across the wire itself (although it was extremely out of this world), but rather the successful act of breaking into both Twin Towers and stringing the wire between each tower before daylight without getting caught or seen.
I’m pretty into video games that involve stealth and not getting caught, so I guess that explains why I was so drawn to the whole process of breaking into the Twin Towers and setting up their equipment in the middle of the night.
~Pun
Reactions to Man on Wire
Damn. If I had the talent to walk on wire/cable at even 10 floors above ground level, I wouldn’t be here composing this post right now.
Philippe Petit is probably one of those guys where you just don’t have the correct adjective to describe him. Crazy? Brave? Idiotic? Heroic? To perfectly plot this whole event, and not get caught is definitely an incredible feat. I mean, he wasn’t at the 10th floor, the 20th floor, but the 110th floor. What could’ve possibly been going through his mind?
What I probably most liked about the documentary was the fact that it seemed to made me feel like I was in the moment, especially when they were describing how they almost got caught and stuff. If Petit’s timing was not correct, August 7th, 1974 might’ve just been another ordinary day for all of us, and the prisons might just have an extra guy in there.
However, in exchange for his fame and glory, Petit lost his friends, lost the love of his life, lost everything he had had before August 7th, all because of the 45 mins on the top of the World Trade Center towers. I mean, I don’t know if that’s worth it.
~Christopher Chong
Man on the Wire – Reaction
I am not a fan of documentaries. I just dislike them. Man on the Wire was a unique case. I actually enjoyed the documentary about Philippe Petit and his whole crew.
I have heard of stories about people who have walked across many dangerous places via tightrope, but I have never heard of Philippe Petit and his story of walking across the Twin Towers via tightrope.
I found it quite amazing that he would have the concentration and the balance to actually achieve all that. I can barely keep my balance on a 2×4! I respect Philippe for doing whatever he wanted to achieve his dream of walking the tightrope 110 stories high. This does raise many questions though.
One of the biggest issues I have with Philippe’s story is the issue with money. I don’t understand how Philippe could even go back and forth from America and Paris ever so often. Where does he get his money to do so? I thought he was only a street performer. Either he hustled a lot of money while doing so, or he acquired his funds elsewhere.
The biggest question that I would have loved to ask Philippe and his crew is this: What did you guys do after the event? I have absolutely no idea how one would feel when a dream is achieved. Where would you go afterwards? What would you do? Will there be anything else in life that will ever feel better than when the dream was achieved?
I am so curious as to what the crew did after the heist was over. Is the ending like the usual ending to a dream? Was it a sad awakening to reality?
My reaction to “Man on Wire”
It occurs to me that Phillipe really enjoys walking on cables.
He says it’s “illegal but not hurtful” but he was said to have done it because it was like a bank robbery.
Also, when he was taken down from Notre Dame he snatched an officer’s watch.
To me, the art here lies in his fine control of his body’s position down to the hands.
On Man on a Wire
Man on a Wire was a incredible documentary! In fact, at some points in the movie, I totally forgot that I was a watching a documentary. Some scenes were so intense, engaging, and emotional, that it might as well have been a drama. The documentary gave us a deep look into the walker, Philippe Petit. Through the interviews, and through various home-videos, we were able to realize the type of person he is. He is a dreamer, a man who is incredibly passionate about his hopes and goals. I believe that is one lesson that one should take away from watching this documentary. While I would not advise going about and breaking the law, I believe each and every one of us should have a goal or passion in life.
I truly admired the cinematography of the documentary. The mixture of black and white footage with colored footage was visually engaging and pleasing. Old footage from France and New York, provided me with a sense of what the world was like in the late 70s. Seeing footage of Petit, from his early days of tightrope walking through his grand display at the Twin Towers, caused me to feel as if i knew him his entire life. I felt as if I grew along side him. The various interviews with all those involved with the Twin Towers project were able to provide me with multiple point of views, while still maintaining the theme that it may take a team in order to achieve one person’s dream.
One part of the movie that stood out to me was the end. I could not help but find disgust with Petit, as he allowed short lived fame to interfere with those who supported him along the way, with his friends. I felt sympathy for the one man (John I cannot remember his last name), who cried during the interview. We discussed that he cried twice for possibly two distinct reasons. The first may have been for the sheer beauty of Petit’s act, and the second may have been for losing Petit as a dear friend.
Just watched Man On Wire….
..and all I have to say is: Wow. Just wow. That movie was absolutely brilliant. From beginning to end, “Man On Wire” held my attention. I was absolutely smitten with Petit’s rebellious view of his high-wire walk and the notion of “illegal but not inherently wicked or harmful.” As I said in my previous post about Let the Great World Spin, the walker, who is Phillipe Petit, truly lived. He was not bound by the laws imposed on him by society; rather, he lived his life as he saw fit and was a source of immense inspiration to those who witnessed his feat. The sense of inspiration I got from this movie was absolutely incredible.
The ending, however, was also a tad depressing; Petit’s dream was not achieved without sacrifice and that sacrifice came in the form of his friendships and his relationship. Petit’s sole focus throughout this endeavor was to fulfill his dream; he didn’t show any regard for what his friends or even his girlfriend wanted to do with their lives. His friends lived his dream and did their utmost to help him. This is especially seen in Jean-Louis, who stayed by Petit’s side even when all hope seemed lost and when Albert had abandoned him. It was sad to find out that they fell apart after the event, especially after such a show of love and dedication. Petit’s disregard for his companions is also shown in his treatment of Annie; as soon as he is released from prison, Petit sees it fit to cheat on her, because of his celebrity. I felt that was rather cruel of him, especially since she had dedicated her life to him.
All in all, a great movie about a truly legendary feat but with the moral that there is no achievement without sacrifice.
Man on Wire- Reaction
I knew about Philippe Petit walking between the Twin Towers from reading the children’s book, The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein back in 3rd grade. But after reading Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann, I was again immensely curious to see how this man accomplished his walk on a wire between the Twin Towers. I was specifically interested on how he managed to tie his cable between the towers. I don’t know why but I imagined that this was a one-man feat, which made it seem even more amazing to me. Contrary to my original thought, this was hardly a one-man feat. Philippe had all his friends on board to help him accomplish his dream, and at some point in the movie I really began to see why the feat had a deeper impact, more than the media had portrayed it to be.
The amount of time, money, and risk Philippe was taking with his relationships and physical body was crazy to think about. All of his friends were postponing their own lives and journey to join Philippe. They supported him and really cared about him, but I couldn’t see an inkling of concern Philippe had for his friends. To blatantly put it, he was quite selfish. When each of his friends were interviewed, his best friend Jean-Louis constantly spoke about Philippe’s safety and their relationship. But Philippe was so caught up describing how he accomplished sneaking past the guards, anchoring his cables and the excitement of it all. He was blind to see that it wasn’t just as simple as getting the job done, but there were major consequences bound to happen. What shocked me the most was when Philippe abandoned his friends after his walk and put them on hold when all this time they had put their lives on hold for his. It really was amazing to see the behind story and all the effort Philippe and his friends put into this once in a lifetime show, but heartbreaking to see what it was actually worth.
