Man On Wire

[Kylie Lang]

This documentary was an interesting and compelling video portraying one man’s aspirations and his perseverance in obtaining that goal. In Colum McCann’s “Let The Great World Spin,” the incident of the tightrope walker that walked between the twin towers was constantly referenced. It’s one of the iconic events that happened in New York City. Ever since I heard the story of this man who was able to walk between the towers, I immediately began forming questions in my head. How on Earth was he able to get a cable between the roofs of two towers? Why did he do it? What was it like? After watching the film, all of these questions were answered and the entire telling of it was very interesting.

Philippe Petit’s goal of walking between the twin towers was sparked so spontaneously but the execution of the event was not spontaneous at all. A great deal of care and planning went into his performance. Throughout the documentary, problems continued to arise and his efforts seemed futile. Many of his associates deserted him along the way out of fear, but Petit continued moving toward his goal. One thing that really shocked me was the way he coincidentally injured his foot on a upward facing nail at the construction site. The even more surprising part was the way his group was able to infiltrate the Twin Towers disguised as construction workers or using his crutches to his advantage. Overall, I thought that Philippe Petit’s story was really impressive and inspiring the way he was able to pull off such a big dream despite the many obstacles in his path.

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