"To me, it is so simple. that life should be lived on the edge of life. You have to exercise rebellion. To refuse, to tapper yourself to rules, to refuse your own success, to refuse to repeat yourself and see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge. And then you are going to live your life on a tight rope." - Philipe Petit.
Maybe this wasn't the best documentary to watch as a person with a fear of heights.... Or maybe it was exactly the right one. To me, nobody in their right mind would attempt to walk a high-wire between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. And yet, someone did. On August 7th, 1974, a French high-wire artist named Philipe Petit walked on a tight rope between two of the highest buildings in New York. As soon as I found that out I had two reactions. My first reaction was immediately thinking, "Ok, this guy is insane." My second one was being instantly intrigued by this story. The idea that someone actually did this made me want to know what possessed them to do it.
I was surprised by how many times I felt like I was watching a heist movie instead of a documentary. We got to see the planning that went into it as well as re-enactments of the actual "heist". Every questions that flowed through my head was answered. You may be wondering how exactly they got a wire from one tower to another. The answer... a bow and arrow. Yeah, you read that right. He's Katniss Everdeen. You also may might be wondering how they managed to sneak into The World Trade Center. The answer... several steps that I don't want to spoil for you because it's insane how much was involved in this process.
The scene that really stuck out to me was, yes, the Katniss Everdeen moment. The members of the heist gave present day interviews reflecting on the experience and they spent a lot of time discussing how they were going to connect the wire to both towers. They came up with several ideas like using a helicopter or a fishing pole. The team finally landed on the bow and arrow idea and real footage of them practicing archery was included. One member would shoot the arrow and the others would run to find it to see how far it went. Side note.. I'm convinced they somehow knew there would be a movie made about them. I mean why else would they record themselves running after arrows and tacking each other to the ground?! Okay rant over. Focus, bow and arrow! We now return to our regularly scheduled program. The actors in the re-enactment scenes also recreated a small portion of their archery skills. Their plan didn't go exactly to plan as they had to hide from guards for several hours, so they had to shoot the arrow in the dark. The actor aimed the arrow and let it fly. Of course they didn't show they arrow flying through the air and landing on the other tower. The scene cut to present day Philipe re-enacting how he had to frantically search for the arrow in the dark.
When I first heard they used a bow and arrow, I was instantly skeptical. I really didn't believe it would actually, but it miraculously did! I know from personal experience that archery is not easy. Watching movies like The Hunger Games makes archery look so much easier then it actually is. I took one class and I walked into it thinking it would be easy and that I would be great at it. Oh was I wrong. A part of my down fall is that it actually involves some upper body muscles that I don't I have. Now you see why I didn't believe their plan would actually work. And the fact that the only had one shot to do it only added to my skepticism. And yet it worked. Whether it be luck or an act of God, the arrow made it across to the other tower.
After watching this documentary, I was left with a lot of questions. Why did the people involved agree to help Philipe in the first place? Did Annie ever find out that Philipe cheated on her right after he got released from jail? (Yes, a black and white montage of it is included. No, really, I'm serious. And again how is there video of this?!) Did the group ever reconnect or did they fall out of touch after completing what they set out to do? How many years of practice did Philipe do to be able to be that confident on a high-wire?
I was also left with an increased fear of heights after I watched this documentary. The next day I was even hesitant around stairs.. yeah, stairs. I just kept picturing myself falling down them (which I have done) and just lying there on the floor with several broken bones. Yeah I know I have an over active imagination. Besides that though, I now have a new found curiosity about high-wire walkers. I want do some research into the background of it and who the first high-wire walker was.
The use of actual photos and videos of Philipe walking made the viewer feel like they were actually witnesses to something that happened 30 years ago. The fast pace of the documentary allowed the audience to feel exactly what Philipe's team did. The thrill, the sense of urgency, the terror of almost being caught all made it feel real for the audience. The documentary did lose traction when the flashbacks weren't as interesting as the actual heist. Sometimes it actually did bring me out of the experience when the flashbacks didn't connect to what was happening during that particular stage of the heist. I have yet to find a movie/TV show that doesn't struggle with flashbacks, so I know it's a hard thing to do right. Every film has its faults, but this documentaries faults didn't stop me from enjoying it as a whole. I would recommend this documentary to anyone who wants to know about an intriguing story. A word of caution though. If you don't already have a pre-existing fear of heights, you may develop one after watching this film. You have been warned.
When you open with "Maybe this wasn't the best documentary to watch as a person with a fear of heights," you make us want to read. You make us intrigued, and it's kind of like the vibe of the film. I love the image you chose, here! Great post!
ReplyDeleteI’m genuinely interested in watching this documentary after reading about it in your post! The way you write is so engaging with your audience and, like Dr. Kyburz said, makes them want to keep reading. You talked about a few interesting aspects of this documentary but, I would like to know what stuck out the most to you? For me, based off your post, it would probably be the fact that they used a bow and arrow to get the wire from one tower to the other. How does that even work?! I am definitely going to have to watch this now.
ReplyDeleteThe way you describe the film makes it seem like it wasn't a documentary, it makes it seem more like a action film. I will definitely have to watch this film in order to really believe it, like that quote goes "I have to see it to believe it." Like Israel mentioned, I think the part of the bow and arrow to get the wire across buildings is something that is completely shocking on how they would do that. Like so they have someone on the other end with the window open ready to catch the arrow or what? I will definitely have to look into this film and I might just watch it with my cousin that's afraid of heights to catch her reaction of it.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhile I pretty much agree with everything that's been said in the comments, I do have a few things to add. I do believe that there are other films on the same subject matter, one of which was directed by Robert Zemeckis a few years ago. It was called The Walk and I'm pretty sure it got good reviews. I did like your review a lot, especially the opening quote and the warning at the end, but I would have liked it a little better if you went into more details about the flaws of the film. You started to in the last paragraph, but then kind of dropped it. Even still, great review and I look forward to reading more of your material this semester.
ReplyDelete-Michael Geyer
I like the way you describe and compare the documentary. It makes it seem more interesting to others and make them want to watch it. Comparing the bow and arrow to Katniss Everdeen allows for readers to get an idea of what the film could be like and makes it seem like an action movie. After reading your perspective on the film, I am interested in watching the film myself.
ReplyDeleteThis was an extremely creative blog post! It was short and simple, including many visual descriptions from the documentary itself. Kudos to you girl! You really have a niche for writing. The way you describe the documentary and compare the characters to popular and well known actor/actresses, makes the reader intrigued to watch the film! Thank you so much for that perspective of the film and I cant wait to read your future work this semester!
ReplyDeleteEven as a person who is also afraid of heights, your post has made me want to watch the film. The sense of urgency you explained gives the film an aspect of adventure. However adventurous, no one in their right mind should actually attempt a stunt like this. I love how you pose the question about why he did what he did. I had the same question. I would like to hear a little bit more about the issues within the film and the ones it poses, as well as more about his life.
ReplyDeleteThis was such a cool way to describe the documentary you chose, very unique in they way you wrote. I love how you brought in outside comparisons like Katniss Everdeen (one of my favorite movies) because it made visualize how they could of put that rope across the towers. You did such an awesome job at intriguing me to go watch the film.
ReplyDeleteI also had tried archery and it was very challenging, but it was also a lot of fun. It is unbelievable to think that someone was able to pull off such an extreme stunt and all without the consents of any officials to do so. There is also a movie called "The Walk" that is about his whole experience that came out much more recently in 2015 and may be of interest to you. This is a great blog post and I hope to see the documentary very soon!
ReplyDelete