My Top 10 Documentaries # 4 - Man on a Wire ( 2008) .

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One of the first news stories I remember as a kid was seeing the guy on the TV that tight-roped between the top the Twin Towers of the World Trade centre in Manhattan. He had no safety rope as such and if he messed up he fell 1400ft to splat on the floor, all on live TV. I don’t want to spoil the ending but thankfully Phillip Petit made it across. But the documentary is not just about the event on the day but more about leading up to the walk, like not getting arrested by the NYPD for trying it , either end of the rope, or his team also getting caught that help him achieve the covert and complex operation. It was not publicized back then to avoid the arrests and had a lot of New Yorkers looking up in amazement as Phillip went about his lunacy. It’s intriguing if you don’t know the story as I didn’t and an entertaining watch, far more than you think it will. The people involved in the group are interesting and lots of archive footage to bulk out the film. The bored middle-class, if they are not protesting after university on other thing or another, tend to get involved in something like this foolhardy decadence to avoid work. Phillipe said it was modern art and they were an art collective but it’s just showing off for me. Phillipe is married and did a lot of these death defying stunts in his day and you have to feel for his wife who kissed him goodbye in the morning when he went off to ‘work’ and may not return. He had previously done the tightrope walk on the Sydney Harbor Bridge amongst many iconic buildings. Great watch and enthralling stuff as the amazing story unfolds, especially the detailed plan required to ascend the towers without being caught at night. Phillipe’s face was known to the cops and so disguises were called for, and they needed people on both roofs to string the rope. And yes they did use a bow and arrow at one point. Enjoy. The move drama about this event is also good.