Theatrical release poster
Directed by James Marsh
Produced by Simon Chinn
Starring Philippe Petit
Music by Josh Ralph (title theme)
Michael Nyman
Cinematography Igor Martinovic
Editing by Jinx Godfrey
Release date(s) Sundance Film Festival:
January 22, 2008
United States:
July 15, 2008
Australia:
October 16, 2008[1]
Running time 90 min.
Country United Kingdom
Language English, French
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 and is based on Philippe Petit's book, To Reach the Clouds.
It competed in the World Cinema Documentary Competition[2] at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize: World Cinema Documentary and the World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary.[3]
In an interview conducted with Zoom In Online during Man on Wire's run at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, director James Marsh explained many of the reasons why he was drawn to such an inspirational, iconic documentary after his last project, the dark, incest-dabbling feature The King. First and foremost, Marsh claims the film immediately struck him as "a heist movie" and after seeing how much collaboration and exhaustive planning went into planning "the coup," it's easy to understand Marsh's sentiments. Secondly, Marsh also comments that as a New Yorker himself, he sees the film as something to give back to the city. One of the greatest comments he could receive, he says, is to hear someone say that they will now always think of Petit and his performance when recalling the World Trade Center's twin towers.[4]
Responding to questioning as to why the towers' destruction 27 years later was not mentioned in the film, Marsh explained that Phillippe Petit's act was "incredibly beautiful" and that it "would be unfair and wrong to infect his story with any mention, discussion or imagery of the Towers being destroyed."[5]
The film's producer, Simon Chinn, first encountered Philippe Petit in 2005 on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs when he decided to pursue him for the film rights to his book, To Reach the Clouds.
Man on Wire has won the prestigious Special Jury Award and Audience Award at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival[6], the International Audience Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival and the Standard Life Audience Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival[7]. The film has also won the Jury Prize and Audience Award in the World Cinema: Documentary competition at the Sundance Film Festival. To date, Man on Wire is only the sixth film ever in the history of Sundance to pick up both top awards and the first from outside the US.[8]
Critics received the film remarkably well, with film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reporting that 100% of the 132 reviews they have collected have been positive, making it "The Best of All Time" reviewed film on their site.[9]
[edit] Soundtrack
Much of the film's soundtrack is derived from the 2006 album, The Composer's Cut Series Vol. II: Nyman/Greenaway Revisited.
Fish Beach - Michael Nyman (from Drowning by Numbers)
History Of The Insipid - Michael Nyman (from The Libertine)
Albatross - Fleetwood Mac
Dreams Of A Journey - Michael Nyman (from The Piano)
Time Lapse - Michael Nyman (from A Zed & Two Noughts)
The Disposition Of Linen - Michael Nyman (from The Draughtsman's Contract)
A Fifth of Beethoven - Walter Murphy
Chasing Sheep - Michael Nyman (from The Draughtsman's Contract)
An Eye For Optical Theory - Michael Nyman (from The Draughtsman's Contract)
The Lark Ascending - English Northern Philharmonia (composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams)
A Ramble In St. James's Park - Michael Nyman (from The Libertine)
Passage de L'Egalité - Michael Nyman (from La Traversée de Paris)
In The Hall Of The Mountain King - Philadelphia Orchestra (composed by Edvard Grieg)
Drowning By Number 2 - Michael Nyman (from Drowning by Numbers)
Trysting Fields/Sheep 'n' Tides - Michael Nyman (from Drowning by Numbers)
Memorial - Michael Nyman
Leaving Home (Opening Titles) - Josh Ralph
Leaving Home Sunday Exploration (End Credits) - Josh Ralph
Gnossienne No. 1 - Gheorghe Constantinescu (composed by Erik Satie)
Gymnopédie No.1 - Anne Queffélec (composed by Erik Satie)
[edit] References
^ Man on Wire Australian release date
^ "2008 Sundance Film Festival Announces Films in Competition" (PDF) (2007-11-28). Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
^ "2008 Sundance Film Festival Announces Awards" (2008-01-26).
^ Jerney Makoa (July 24, 2008). "On The Circuit: Man on Wire | Zoom In - News, Events, Training and Community for Creatives". Retrieved on 2008-07-25.
^ Neil Smith (August 2, 2008). "BBC NEWS: Wire walk film omits 9/11 tragedy". Retrieved on 2008-08-3.
^ "Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Announces Festival Award Winners ", fullframefest.org.
^ "Man on Wire Wins Again ", walltowall.co.uk.
^ "Wall to Wall Takes Two at Sundance Film Festival"
^ "Main on Wire at Rotten Tomatoes". Retrieved on 16 August, 2008.
Rohner, Jim (2008-05-12). "On the Circuit: Man on Wire", Zoom In Online. Retrieved on 2 May 2008.
