Let me preface this by saying I hate heights. And I'm about as graceful as a baby elephant. Parts of this documentary had me incredibly nervous. My hands and feet were sweating even though I knew the guy lived. Of course, I have no rationale in my fear - when I watched "Up" I experienced the same anxiety and that was a cartoon!
I had never heard of this documentary, which is strange because I love them. In fact I had never even heard of this event, which is even weirder because in high school I was a History Channel nerd and watched history in the classroom before school at 6 am. I've seen tons on the World Trade Center and can't remember Phillippe Petit's name ever being mentioned. That said, this is the type of movie that I wanted this list to bring to me. It's was moving, it was touching, and I learned something. All good qualities in a film.
Petit is a french high wire artist, who on 7 August 1974, crossed the 200 foot gap between the Twin Towers in Manhattan. This so-called artistic crime was year sin the making and aided by a large group of friends and supporters, including some random Aussie who helped him do a tight rope event at a bridge and Sydney, and his girlfriend, who speaks no English. The documentary combines black and white photographs of the event, old reels of the 'criminals', talking heads, and some subtle, but good, re-enactments that reminded me of the old silent films.
Parts of this movie did get tedious. The planning took months to work out the finer details and that dragging on showed itself in the film. I also couldn't obtain a copy with subtitles, so about 5% of the film I didn't understand but I got the gist of what they were saying. But I don't think any of that was really the point of the movie. It was all about a man and his passion, which for some reason unbeknown to me, is walking 1350 feet in the air without any sort of aid. But whatever floats your boat, I guess. But that message is what rings clear throughout all 90 minutes. The way he speaks about every last detail of preparation and previous experience you can tell that tight rope walking and risking his life to get this thrill is what he absolutely lives for. Nothing could make him happier. Even the thought of death doesn't faze him. According to Phillippe, "If I die, what a beautiful death, to die in the exercise of your passion." And I have to agree. The throes of passion is exactly how I want to die. Or at least having once experienced that. And having my 15 minutes of fame and getting my name on headlines allover the world for something unique is pretty damn cool as well.
I feel there isn't much I can say about this movie. It's about a guy who walks 200 feet, from one place to another. But it's well made and it kept me interested in a subject I'm not really interested in (remember the fear of heights?). Petit also makes me want to go out and figure out what passions I have, the one that I want to live for.
Speaking of the pleasures of the flesh that Petit enjoyed after his little adventure. ;) I'm reading The Hardest (Working) Man in Showbiz by Ron Jeremy. It's hilarious but not for the prudes. He's pretty explicit about his sexual escapades of which there are many as in thousands. He even gives little sex tips which are more humourous than practical. One of irritating things about the book is that he's a name dropper and spouts of celebrities like old ladies do their cats. It gets kind of old. But he's clever. And kind of creepy but endearing in an avuncular sort of way. If you're not fainthearted and have ever been interested in what goes on behind the scenes in the porno industry, you should read it.
One more pop culture shout out. Top Chef: All Stars finale was last night and it was awesome!!! So pleased Richard Blaise one though he was kind of an asshole. His skill set was superior and he just seemed like the better chef. Not going to lie, the last meal, though gourmet sounding, did not seem very appetizing. Then again, I'm a vegetarian and there was nothing vegetarian about this, from the peperoni sauce to the fried bone marrow to the foie gras ice cream (blech), it was pretty meat laden. But well done, Blaise, good luck in your future endeavors!
I had never heard of this documentary, which is strange because I love them. In fact I had never even heard of this event, which is even weirder because in high school I was a History Channel nerd and watched history in the classroom before school at 6 am. I've seen tons on the World Trade Center and can't remember Phillippe Petit's name ever being mentioned. That said, this is the type of movie that I wanted this list to bring to me. It's was moving, it was touching, and I learned something. All good qualities in a film.
Petit is a french high wire artist, who on 7 August 1974, crossed the 200 foot gap between the Twin Towers in Manhattan. This so-called artistic crime was year sin the making and aided by a large group of friends and supporters, including some random Aussie who helped him do a tight rope event at a bridge and Sydney, and his girlfriend, who speaks no English. The documentary combines black and white photographs of the event, old reels of the 'criminals', talking heads, and some subtle, but good, re-enactments that reminded me of the old silent films.
Parts of this movie did get tedious. The planning took months to work out the finer details and that dragging on showed itself in the film. I also couldn't obtain a copy with subtitles, so about 5% of the film I didn't understand but I got the gist of what they were saying. But I don't think any of that was really the point of the movie. It was all about a man and his passion, which for some reason unbeknown to me, is walking 1350 feet in the air without any sort of aid. But whatever floats your boat, I guess. But that message is what rings clear throughout all 90 minutes. The way he speaks about every last detail of preparation and previous experience you can tell that tight rope walking and risking his life to get this thrill is what he absolutely lives for. Nothing could make him happier. Even the thought of death doesn't faze him. According to Phillippe, "If I die, what a beautiful death, to die in the exercise of your passion." And I have to agree. The throes of passion is exactly how I want to die. Or at least having once experienced that. And having my 15 minutes of fame and getting my name on headlines allover the world for something unique is pretty damn cool as well.
I feel there isn't much I can say about this movie. It's about a guy who walks 200 feet, from one place to another. But it's well made and it kept me interested in a subject I'm not really interested in (remember the fear of heights?). Petit also makes me want to go out and figure out what passions I have, the one that I want to live for.
Speaking of the pleasures of the flesh that Petit enjoyed after his little adventure. ;) I'm reading The Hardest (Working) Man in Showbiz by Ron Jeremy. It's hilarious but not for the prudes. He's pretty explicit about his sexual escapades of which there are many as in thousands. He even gives little sex tips which are more humourous than practical. One of irritating things about the book is that he's a name dropper and spouts of celebrities like old ladies do their cats. It gets kind of old. But he's clever. And kind of creepy but endearing in an avuncular sort of way. If you're not fainthearted and have ever been interested in what goes on behind the scenes in the porno industry, you should read it.
One more pop culture shout out. Top Chef: All Stars finale was last night and it was awesome!!! So pleased Richard Blaise one though he was kind of an asshole. His skill set was superior and he just seemed like the better chef. Not going to lie, the last meal, though gourmet sounding, did not seem very appetizing. Then again, I'm a vegetarian and there was nothing vegetarian about this, from the peperoni sauce to the fried bone marrow to the foie gras ice cream (blech), it was pretty meat laden. But well done, Blaise, good luck in your future endeavors!
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