Man on Wire

In class lately, we have been watching a documentary called Man on Wire. Professor Lucas had told Hayden and I about it before we saw it in class, but I honestly did not expect it to be as good as it is. Man on Wire is a 2008 documentary film directed by James Marsh. The film chronicles Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center. It is based on Philippe Petit's book, To Reach the Clouds, recently released in paperback with the new title Man on Wire. The title of the movie is taken from the police report that led to the arrest (and later release) of Petit, whose performance had lasted for almost one hour. The film is crafted like a heist film, presenting rare footage of the preparations for the event and still photographs of the walk, alongside reenactments (with Paul McGill as the young Petit) and present-day interviews with the participants.
It competed in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize: World Cinema Documentary and the World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary. In February 2009, the film won the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film, the Independent Spirit Awards and the Academy Award for Best Documentary.

After we watched the movie in class, I asked the students what they thought of Petit himself. They all agreed that he was very self absorbed. He let go of his friends as soon as he achieved his goal. They all worked hard to help him achieve what he wanted but once he became the New York star, he forgot all about them.
The movie was quite inspiring, but Petit's personality was definitely a turn off.
never the less it did not take away from the enjoyment of the film.

I recommend it to anyone who likes an adventurous inspiring film!