A great example of truth being better than fiction---a combination of “Mission Impossible”, Billy Wilder’s “Spirit of St. Louis” and Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times.”
In the early 1970s New York City was building two of the tallest towers in the world. Together, they would be called the World Trade Center.
The significance of the event was not lost on street juggler and tightrope walk poacher Philippe Petit. Seeing the rendering of the planned towers and visiting New York to see them in construction, his mission was manifest. He would string a cable between the two towers and walk that tight rope 1350 feet above the dirty, and hard, streets of the city below.
In the early 1970s New York City was building two of the tallest towers in the world. Together, they would be called the World Trade Center.
The significance of the event was not lost on street juggler and tightrope walk poacher Philippe Petit. Seeing the rendering of the planned towers and visiting New York to see them in construction, his mission was manifest. He would string a cable between the two towers and walk that tight rope 1350 feet above the dirty, and hard, streets of the city below.
The fact that the walk would be patently illegal meant no more to Petit than the significant chance that he would die. The winds at that altitude can be blustery and come up at a moment’s notice. The buildings themselves move enough to vary the tension of the cable during the walk. The cable would have to be stayed at several points to reduce not only its lateral movement but the even more dangerous tendency for it to twist in torsion, rolling the walker’s foot one way or the other without warning.
Illegal walks were a favorite of Petit. Possibly because he is, as he says, “A criminal at heart.” (As he was being led away by police after the Tower walk, under arrest, he stole a police officer’s wristwatch.) More likely Petit liked the illegal for the same basic reason most criminals like it; it pays so much better than the legal. He had performed two previous illegal walks at the Note Dame Cathedral in Paris and the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia and so knew the clandestine side of the craft.
Which brings us to his team. Mostly close friends and long time street hangers on, including his girlfriend Annie Allix and WTC co-perp Jean-Louis Blondeau. The latter rigged the cable on the North Tower opposite Petit in the South Tower and had complete responsibility for avoiding the lethal consequences of the slightest error. As the time approached, Petit was forced to replace some long-standing members of his team with newcomers, some of which were of extremely dubious capabilities.
Among the many precious and riveting interviews in the film, one of the best is the newcomer who admitted he was smoking pot daily at the time and had a hard time concentrating.
A thoroughly enjoyable film, although it should be noted that it contains a mix of staged footage as well as genuine archival footage. Verging on situation comedy in places, it is without question one of the most fun and genuine documentaries to be seen. It is one of the few times France has shown America how to be completely and irreversibly off the wall.
And how spooky that the team was able to completely infiltrate the WTC, in light of later terrorist attacks. They smuggled nearly a ton of cable and rigging supplies, not to mention knives and a bow and arrow (you will have to watch the film to learn about the bow and arrow) to the top of the Tower which was populated daily by construction workers as well as 24 hour-a-day security guards.
In the end, the film suggests that Petit more or less dumped his friends when he became famous. Indeed, his latter associations include Milos Foreman, Annie Liebovitz, Robin Williams and the like. Although one can’t help but be curious about that, it is not the story being told. It is hard to fault the film for not including a post script about his personal life.
The story that is told is a simple one, maybe better suited to a TV special than a documentary. Parts of the film are staged dramatizations and that might upset some purists. But overall the movie is done so much in the spirit of good hearted fun that it doesn’t make any difference. The entire event is not only presented in a funny way, but resonates with the American cowboy, can-do, maverick sort of spirit. Petit was French, but he was also very American.
Will it sell in Topeka? Probably not, most people will watch “Mission Impossible” instead. In spite of that it is one the most entertaining examples of thinking outside of the box one will ever see.
Release: Tribeca Film Festival
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