Movies You May Have Missed: 12/6/08
Who’s so serious now, joking boy?
It was another dismal stretch for new release DVDs last week so the Movies You May Have Missed column took a holiday. We’re back this week with one of our favorite movies of the year and no, we don’t mean that little summer movie about a man who minces around the city fighting crime dressed as a flying rat. Sure, we loved it too and it’s coming out on Tuesday, but you’d have to have been living under a rock…in a coma…to have missed it so it doesn’t quite meet the standards of this column.
Instead we’re going to look at a different hero performing a different kind of superhuman stunt: the man who transformed two Manhattan icons, not by tearing them down, but by turning them into a work of performance art.
Man on Wire (2008) *****
You probably know by now that James Marsh’s documentary is about Philippe Petit’s tightrope walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center in 1974, but if you haven’t seen it you’re likely wondering what the big deal is. What’s so special about a goofy, arrogant Frenchman endangering his life for a crazy stunt?
For starters, it’s a nifty suspense story. Through interviews and recreations, the first part of the film tells how Petit put his team of co-conspirators together and how this motley band snuck into the still unfinished towers to assemble the nearly one ton of equipment needed to pull off the stunt more than a quarter mile above ground. It’s a classic heist scenario. It’s a real-life Rififi.
However, as entertaining as the setup is, it’s the climax and aftermath that become transcendent. Though 9/11 is never referred to throughout the film, it’s impossible not to think about the fate of the towers as the plot transpires. I’m not sure that Petit’s performance – and it was a performance, not just a stunt – would be quite so beautiful and resonant today if the buildings were still standing, but they’re not. Viewed through the lens of history as it has unfolded, Petit’s act of defiance is a reminder that there are more peaceful and positive ways to challenge the status quo.
Through his assault on capitalism’s two most imposing monuments, Petit humanized them. He brought them down to size without harming them and in so doing, transformed them while elevating humanity itself. His was an ennobling act that speaks to the more positive and uplifting human instincts: the urge to overcome a challenge, the need to create, and finally the need to make a statement and be heard. These things may not be vital to our existence, but they turn mere existence into something more fulfilling and worthwhile. They’re the things that define our better natures and remembering them through the smoke and fire of recent events becomes something transporting and remarkable.
Catch the original LiC review of Man on Wire here.
Filed under: DVD
Tags: James Marsh, Man on Wire, Philippe Petit
“…we don’t mean that little summer movie about a man that minces around the city fighting crime dressed as a flying rat.”
You got me, Craig. FLYING RAT…?
Which flick was that?
*raises eyebrow*
Doesn’t ring a bell…
(whispers) it rhymes with “The Shmark Shnight”
This is a beautifully written summary of MoW, Craig. Really lovely.
Thanks A! I’m running out of ways to gush about this film… :)
I agree, nicely written, Craig. You didn’t even need to raise an eyebrow.
Awesome job, there sir. I especially like how you got at Petit’s act of (creative) defiance.
I’m also looking forward to the flying rat. I’ve seen a couple ads here and there and suddenly I want to watch the whole damn thing all over again. Ledger’s performance is going to be a classic piece of genre acting.
I feel like I’ve been somehow at odds with you about this one throughout the year, you considering the best documentary of the year and me considering it only in the top few. Makes me feel like I didn’t like it as much as I actually did, which is ridiculous because we both think it’s excellent. Great insights in the last paragraph here.
Joel, yeah I snark, but I’m looking forward to revisiting TDK again. I hope when the rerelease it to theaters that it plays in IMAX as well since I never did see it that way.
We certainly haven’t seen exactly eye to eye on the documentary front Daniel, and I imagine for you there’s a degree of MoW fatigue starting to sink in.
Every year for me there’s a movie or two that transports me in a way that other movies don’t and I can’t always explain why. This was that movie for me, but I know you’re not the only only one who wasn’t quite grabbed in the same way.
I plan on seeing “Man on Wire” again before I draw up my top ten list…right now it’s neck and neck with “Patti Smith” and “Dear Zachary” for me.
I kind of like it that way, Craig – not always seeing eye to eye. What’s the point of talking about movies, otherwise? Your opinions on a number of movies, MoW included, have caused me to rethink my own. Hopefully it goes both ways.
In any case, I’m fine with the MoW award tsunami on the way. I have zero backlash against the movie, even if it would be a questionable vote for me as best of the year. It’s at least as good as any other documentary winner since Born into Brothels in ‘04.
Beyond that, it also appeals to a mainstream audience more than most documentaries (like Slumdog appeals more than most “indies”), so I can push it to non-film freaks and sound like a genius.
Daniel, I understand your position. MAN ON WIRE has a shot at my Top Ten, but I am not yet sure if it will make it.
I expect banishment from this site as a result of this statement.
Just kidding………….LOL!