The film more or less charts events from early 1970's where tight rope walker extraordinaire Phillipe Petit illegally walked across the nearly complete WTC twin towers. The tag line says it was the 'artistic crime of the century', and the film certainly made me agree (mostly because I can't name any other artistic crimes?). Never before had I really given any thought to tightrope walking, as a profession and certainly not as an art form, but Petit is so engaging that I now see the beauty in it. The film, which is mostly told in interviews and re-enactions (which gave it an Errol Morris feel), builds up to this monumental event that Petit had been wanting to do since he had read about the construction of the towers and took literally years of planning to pull it off.
It is mostly through Petit's sheer force of a personality that gives the film its wings. He is enchanting, reminds me a bit of Malcolm McDowell from "Clockwork Orange", and is a dreamer pure and simple. He even enchanted his ex girlfriend enough to make her come to the event and weep at the beauty of it, seriously. You know what happens at the end (the poster kind of shows that they pulled it off), but there is definitely tension, worrying about how they will do it and what will happen after.
One of the greatest triumphs of the film, however, is the way they deal with the obvious tragedy that befell the towers. I don't remember it ever being explicitly mentioned, but everyone involved clearly had a profound love almost for the towers and what they symbolized. Petit knew what they meant before they were built, and this film serves as a tribute to the towers themselves. Its not morbid or sad, but a respectful and inspiring memorial to them. Very deserving of the best doc win.
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