Monday, October 12, 2015

Man on Wire: Decisions


In the final moments of Man on Wire, a documentary about the real life story of Philippe Petit's high wire walk between the famous Twin Towers, I noticed that there was one theme... one message that really stood out to me and that was decisions. Philippe had a decision to make. It was a risk to high wire walk, it could very well have led to his death, but it was a risk he just had to take. That's the only way Petit can describe it. He described death as being close that stepping onto the wire could've very well been the end of his life. He had to make the decision to no longer anchor himself to the building but to take that step and get on the wire. Once he was on the wire, walking, he was performing. At first he was tense but then he shifted, he relaxed. Philippe was in his element, he knew what he was doing. His performance was astounding and just beautiful, there were so many spectators that gathered to watch. Then the police arrived and tried to arrest Philippe who was still on the wire and he was teasing and almost provoking the policemen. When Philippe got off the wire he was arrested and brought in for psychiatric evaluation. What everyone wanted to know was, why? It became a big thing, why, but there was no why according to him. Philippe was charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct but the district attorney made a deal with him that if he performed for some children on TV, did a show, they'd drop the charges and he agreed. His friends however, weren't so lucky they were deported back to France. This event changed Philippe. He betrayed his friends, he cheated on his girlfriend, he was changing. The fame was changing him. Jean-Louis said, "There was something broken in this friendship." and he started crying. The relationship dynamics seem to have changed after Philippe achieved his dream of high-wire walking the Twin Towers.
I can certainly understand why this film won best documentary, it was creatively put together in a way that showcased everyone's perspective and what they had to lose or gain from this experience.
I feel that the overall message of this film was that dreams come at a price, and the price of this dream was Philippe's life before, his friends, his girlfriend, those relationships changed as a result of his fame. The bigger picture I think is fame comes at a price, he let it change him. He betrayed his friends and girlfriend so easily and then his friends were deported while he got off with a "slap on the wrist" in comparison.
This film was intense, the relationships, the stakes, everything... it made it all the more entertaining to watch even though it's a documentary.

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