| Man on Wire | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | James Marsh |
| Produced by | Simon Chinn |
| Starring | Philippe Petit (as himself) |
| Cinematography | Igor Martinovic |
| Edited by | Jinx Godfrey |
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Running time | 94 minutes[1] |
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| Budget | £1.1 million (approx. $1.9 million)[2] |
| Box office | $5.3 million[3] |
Man on Wire is a 2008documentary film directed byJames Marsh. The film chroniclesPhilippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of New York'sWorld Trade Center. It is based on Petit's 2002 book,To Reach the Clouds, released in paperback with the titleMan on Wire. The title of the film is taken from the police report that led to the arrest (and later release) of Petit, whose performance lasted for almost an hour. The film is crafted like aheist film, presenting rare footage of the preparations for the event and still photographs of the walk, alongside re-enactments (withPaul McGill as the young Petit) and present-day interviews with the participants, including Barry Greenhouse, an insurance executive who served as the inside man.[4]
Man on Wire competed in the World Cinema Documentary Competition[5] at the2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it won theGrand Jury Prize: World Cinema Documentary and the World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary.[6] In February 2009, the film won theBAFTA forOutstanding British Film and theIndependent Spirit Award forBest Documentary. As of 2022, it is one of only six documentary films to ever sweep "The Big Four" critics awards (LA,NBR,NY,NSFC) and the only one of those to also win theAcademy Award forBest Documentary Feature.
The film's producer,Simon Chinn, first encounteredPhilippe Petit in April 2005 on BBC Radio 4'sDesert Island Discs, after which he decided to try to acquire the film rights to Petit's book,To Reach the Clouds. After months of discussion, Petit agreed, with the condition that he could actively collaborate in the making of the film.
In an interview conducted during the run ofMan on Wire at the 2008Tribeca Film Festival, directorJames Marsh explained that he was drawn to the story, in part, because it immediately struck him as "aheist movie", though, as Jean François, one of Petit's collaborators, said, "It may have been illegal...but it wasn't wicked or mean."[7] Marsh also said that, as a New Yorker, he saw the film as a gift to the city after the9/11 attacks and hoped to hear people say after seeing the film that they would always think of Petit and his performance when recalling theWorld Trade Center's twin towers.[8] Responding to a question about why the towers' destruction in the 2001 attacks is not mentioned in the film, Marsh explained that Petit's act was "incredibly beautiful" and it "would be unfair and wrong to infect his story with any mention, discussion or imagery of the Towers being destroyed."[9]
The film opened theatrically in the United States on 29 August 2008, earning $51,392 its first weekend and ranking 37th at the domestic box office.[10] By the end of its run on 5 March 2009, the film grossed $2,962,242 in the United States and Canada and $2,296,327 internationally, for a worldwide total of $5,258,569.[3]
Onreview aggregatorRotten Tomatoes,Man on Wire has a 100% approval rating based on reviews from 159 critics, with aweighted average score of 8.40/10; the website's critical consensus states: "James Marsh's doc about artist Phililppe Petit's artful caper brings you every ounce of suspense that can be wrung from a man on a (suspended) wire".[11] The film is the third-most reviewed to holdan approval rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 89 out of 100 based on reviews from 31 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[12]
Man on Wire won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award in the World Cinema: Documentary competition at the2008 Sundance Film Festival; it is the sixth film to pick up both top awards at Sundance, and the first from outside the US.[13] It also won the Special Jury Award and the Audience Award at theFull Frame Documentary Film Festival,[14] the International Audience Award at theLos Angeles Film Festival, and theStandard Life Audience Award at theEdinburgh International Film Festival.[15] In February 2009, the film won theBAFTA forOutstanding British Film,[16] theIndependent Spirit Award forBest Documentary, and the award for Best Documentary Film from theAustralian Film Critics Association. At the81st Academy Awards, the film won the award forBest Documentary Feature.[17]
The film appeared on many American critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008.[18]Movie City News found that it appeared on 76 of the 286 different American critics' top ten lists surveyed, which was a tie for the seventh "most mentions" on a top ten list out of all of the films released in 2008.[19]
Much of the film's soundtrack is derived from the 2006 albumThe Composer's Cut Series Vol. II: Nyman/Greenaway Revisited, a collection of works byMichael Nyman for films by British directorPeter Greenaway.
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| Preceded by | Sundance Grand Jury Prize: World Cinema Documentary 2008 | Succeeded by |
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