Man On Wire (2008)

(On DVD, January 2009) Telling the story of a tightrope walker’s odyssey to walk between the World Trade Towers in 1974, Man On Wire combines humor, suspense, archival material, dramatic re-creation and talking heads in order to give life to its subject. Left unsaid through it all is the sobering thought that the WTC is gone, but it’s hard not to feel that weight on the film as is portrays the towers as pretext to something noble. As a story, Philippe Petit’s daredevil act is unlikely to the point of preposterousness, an impression that is further reinforced by the incredible incidents and setbacks met along the way. Reality, obviously, can be stranger than fiction. Fiction there is, alas, in the use of actors to re-create and simulate the events of 1974 as the original protagonists tell the story in voice-over and shot footage. It all wraps up in an unusually satisfying documentary, one that hits dramatic points as surely as fiction does.