Dancing on thin air

Man on Wire 2008 BBC Discovery UK (94 minutes) Directed by James Marsh.

It is fascinating to watch: a self-taught French aerialist inspires friends to help him do progressively more difficult feats, with the ultimate idea of taking on New York’s brand new World Trade Center twin towers.

On the evening of August 6, 1974, Philippe Petit and his associates sneaked a ton of equipment—mostly steel cable—to the roofs of the North and South Towers. Working through the night, two-man teams on each building spanned the 200 feet between the towers with a cable more than a quarter of a mile above the street, which supported Petit for 45 minutes the next morning as he crossed eight times, a week before he turned 25. 

It is fascinating, because one gets the sense right away that Petit is like a hero of legend on a quest. He has an extraordinary talent, and he is filled with the inspiration that he must, and driven by the inner conviction that he shall, fulfill his quest.

He knew that death was the certain consequence of a mistake, but his quest was not about defying death and danger to seek celebrity—which he certainly did achieve. There was no ‘why,’ Petit said. He followed an inner voice, a voice that each time drew him out on the wire. Of his World Trade Center walk, he later said:

‘I had to make a decision to shift my weight from one foot anchored on the building to one foot anchored on the wire. This is probably—I don’t know—probably the end of my life to step on that wire. On the other hand, something that I could not resist, and I didn’t make any effort to resist, called me upon the cable. And death is very close.’

He said similar things before walking a wire between the twin towers of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1971 and the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia in 1973.

The source of Petit’s charisma is that like the heroes of legend, he must be pure of heart to undertake the quest and to attract helpers. If this sounds naïve to the modern ear, it is borne out by what Petit and his helpers tell the interviewer.

Petit and Annie Allix, his girl friend at the time, speaking decades after the fact, each said that Petit viewed the feats as capers like a bank robbery, but fun, peaceful capers in which something beautiful was given to the world, nothing was destroyed and no one hurt. The film includes home movie-like footage of Petit and his friends frolicking as they prepare him for these capers in the French countryside southeast of Paris.

They do not come across as thrill-seekers, but inspired and technically proficient young people, sweet and a bit naïve, who believe in Petit’s ability and want to see him bring off the capers.

Jean-Louis Blondeau, a friend from Petit’s childhood, played a key role of challenging Petit to insure that he and the team had thought through as many of the difficulties as possible. Allix gave Petit emotional support and encouragement. The helpers each seem to have felt that they had a role in something larger than themselves or Petit.

There also is a sense of sadness after the fact, that the thing which brought these young people together ended when the hero fulfilled his quest. It had not been about a friendship, but facilitating Petit’s ascent into another plane, as though with a figure of myth or legend.

Decades after the event, Blondeau, who helped rig the cable on the roof of South Tower, became emotional when he said that after Petit’s skywalk, ‘[t]here was something broken, probably, in this friendship. It doesn’t matter because…we did it.’

Allix and Petit had been in love, but Petit as though walked into another life that day, and the middle-aged Allix said. ‘Our relationship was meant to end there and it was beautiful that way,’ she said.

These times seem happy, light and distant in the aftermath of a feat by another group of young people that brought the same towers down a quarter century later. It is odd to see footage of the buildings going up that so publicly came down on September 11, 2001, to see workers pouring the same foundations to which the towers were reduced.

The title Man on Wire is what appeared in capital letters on the police report charging Petit with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct—charges that were dropped. His verve and passion as a much older man gives a sense of the young hero who inspired helpers to assist his quest.

‘To me, it’s so simple that life should be lived on the edge of life. You have to exercise rebellion. To refuse to taper yourself to rules. To refuse your own success. To refuse to repeat yourself. To see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge. And then you are going to live your life on a tightrope,’ Petit said.

Theatrical trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIawNRm9NWM