"Man on Wire"

Watching the film “Man on Wire” was a welcomed distraction from propaganda films. Especially after viewing for the first time the ending of “The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas” I could not handle much more emotion that day.

I think what made the film “Man on Wire” as interesting as it was, is the fact that they had original footage. Majority of the film was not still interviews with the characters but footage that showed the group’s formation and the early days of practice for Philippe. If the film did not have this I don’t think it would have been as captivating as it was. The audience was able to see the idea evolving and even before the idea was an idea. I think this helped the audience participate in the journey to his dream to walk between the World Trade Towers.

Also, without this footage I don’t think the story would be as believable as it is with the evidence. Philippe is a very extravagant character and very animated in his story telling. This made me skeptical of how much of the information he was providing was factual or stories he was exaggerating. Anyone that is that animated or extravagant I am weary of and the footage helped me trust what he was saying.

There were a few surprising parts of the film for me. One was how he said he did not realize he was on the wire for over 40 minutes and had crossed as many times as he did. For me, that is not something you wouldn’t realize when you’re a quarter of a mile above the ground with no safety nets. When he said that he did not realize this it made me wonder how many other things he did not realize during this process and only fueled my skepticism of his storytelling. At the end of the film I was surprised that he split ways with all the people that helped to get him to that point. He called it a clean break but it looked more like he used them and their mission was done and they were dismissed. I especially felt bad for the woman who was dating him because of the amount of concern she must have had for him during this process and then he just leaves.