Release CalendarDVD & Blu-ray ReleasesTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsIn TheatersComing SoonMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysLGBTQ+ Pride MonthSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Man on Wire

  • 20082008
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
56K
YOUR RATING
Man on Wire (2008)
Man on Wire Trailer
Play trailer2:11
7 Videos
76 Photos
  • Documentary
  • Biography
  • Crime
A look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artist... Read allA look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artistic crime of the century".A look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artistic crime of the century".
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
56K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • James Marsh
  • Writer
    • Philippe Petit(based on the book "To Reach the Clouds" by)
  • Stars
    • Philippe Petit
    • Jean François Heckel
    • Jean-Louis Blondeau
Top credits
  • Director
    • James Marsh
  • Writer
    • Philippe Petit(based on the book "To Reach the Clouds" by)
  • Stars
    • Philippe Petit
    • Jean François Heckel
    • Jean-Louis Blondeau
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 176User reviews
    • 198Critic reviews
    • 89Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 46 wins & 13 nominations total

    Videos7

    Man on Wire
    Trailer 2:11
    Man on Wire
    Man On Wire
    Clip 1:28
    Man On Wire
    Man On Wire
    Clip 0:37
    Man On Wire
    Man On Wire
    Clip 1:16
    Man On Wire
    Man On Wire
    Clip 0:52
    Man On Wire
    Man On Wire
    Clip 0:58
    Man On Wire
    Man On Wire
    Clip 0:47
    Man On Wire

    Photos76

    Philippe Petit in Man on Wire (2008)
    Philippe Petit in Man on Wire (2008)
    Philippe Petit in Man on Wire (2008)
    James Marsh in Man on Wire (2008)
    Man on Wire (2008)
    James Marsh at an event for Man on Wire (2008)
    Philippe Petit at an event for Man on Wire (2008)
    Philippe Petit at an event for Man on Wire (2008)
    Philippe Petit and James Marsh at an event for Man on Wire (2008)
    Dick Cavett, Philippe Petit, and James Marsh at an event for Man on Wire (2008)
    Dick Cavett at an event for Man on Wire (2008)
    Philippe Petit at an event for Man on Wire (2008)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Philippe Petit
    Philippe Petit
    • Selfas Self
    Jean François Heckel
    Jean François Heckel
    • Selfas Self
    • (as Jean-François Heckel)
    Jean-Louis Blondeau
    Jean-Louis Blondeau
    • Selfas Self
    Annie Allix
    Annie Allix
    • Selfas Self
    David Forman
    David Forman
    • Selfas Self
    Alan Welner
    Alan Welner
    • Selfas Self
    Mark Lewis
    Mark Lewis
    • Selfas Self
    Barry Greenhouse
    Barry Greenhouse
    • Selfas Self
    • (as N. Barry Greenhouse)
    Jim Moore
    Jim Moore
    • Selfas Self
    Guy F. Tozzoli
    • Selfas Self
    • (as Guy Tozzoli)
    Paul McGill
    Paul McGill
    • Philippe - Drama Reconstructionsas Philippe - Drama Reconstructions
    David Demato
    • Jean-Louis - Drama Reconstructionsas Jean-Louis - Drama Reconstructions
    Ardis Campbell
    • Annie - Drama Reconstructionsas Annie - Drama Reconstructions
    Aaron Haskell
    • Jean-François - Drama Reconstructionsas Jean-François - Drama Reconstructions
    Shawn Dempewolff-Barrett
    • David - Drama Reconstructionsas David - Drama Reconstructions
    • (as Shawn Dempewolff)
    David Roland Frank
    • Alan - Drama Reconstructionsas Alan - Drama Reconstructions
    • (as David Frank)
    Megan Delay
    • The Admirer - Drama Reconstructionsas The Admirer - Drama Reconstructions
    Laurence Gates
    • Dentistas Dentist
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • James Marsh
    • Writer
      • Philippe Petit(based on the book "To Reach the Clouds" by)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

    More like this

    An Inconvenient Truth
    7.4
    An Inconvenient Truth
    Exit Through the Gift Shop
    8.0
    Exit Through the Gift Shop
    Taxi to the Dark Side
    7.5
    Taxi to the Dark Side
    Grizzly Man
    7.8
    Grizzly Man
    Bowling for Columbine
    8.0
    Bowling for Columbine
    Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids
    7.2
    Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids
    Super Size Me
    7.2
    Super Size Me
    Searching for Sugar Man
    8.2
    Searching for Sugar Man
    Citizenfour
    8.0
    Citizenfour
    The Cove
    8.4
    The Cove
    Jiro Dreams of Sushi
    7.8
    Jiro Dreams of Sushi
    Blackfish
    8.1
    Blackfish

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Low on money for the Sydney Harbor Bridge walk, Philippe Petit got the cable in exchange for an impromptu juggling and magic show he put on for employees.
    • Goofs
      In the reenaction of Philippe Petit and his friend hiding from the night watchman at the WTC, a box on the floor has a present-day USPS logo.
    • Quotes

      Philippe Petit: Life should be lived on the edge of life. You have to exercise rebellion: to refuse to tape yourself to rules, to refuse your own success, to refuse to repeat yourself, to see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge - and then you are going to live your life on a tightrope.

    • Connections
      Featured in The Orange British Academy Film Awards (2009)
    • Soundtracks
      Leaving Home
      Written by J. Ralph

      Published by Tubby and the Spaniard Music Publishing

    User reviews176

    Review
    Top review
    9/10
    Art in the sky
    What does Philippe Petit do now? Is he Professor of Advanced Balance at the Sorbonne? Is ha a therapist dealing exclusively in acrophobia? He seems to be a man so specialized that he was meant in life to do only one thing, at one time, and this film is about that moment and shows why a moment--a half hour, actually, in the early morning of August 7, 1974--can define a life and reshape one's perceptions. After the long slow methodical buildup, when the moment comes, calmly accompanied by a famous piece for solo piano by Eric Satie, it is so awesome, so still, so transcendent it makes you cry. No question why this film needed to be made.

    Why is it that walking across a wire up in the air can be an aesthetic experience so exalted it brings you to tears? I don't know, but that's what 'Man on Wire' is about.

    Philippe Petit is a clown, a sprite, a magician, an athlete, and a dancer. When he was seventeen, before the World Trade Center was even built, he knew it had to be his. It was as if it was invented just for him. . This was his greatest exploit. His triumph. It was to make him world famous.

    A 'funambule,' the French call them. A tightrope walker: the epitome of risk-taking Only this time he increased the risk. Like his earlier walks between towers of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris and pylons of the Sydney Harbor Bridge, only more so, Petit's walk on a wire between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, the tallest buildings in New York City, was illegal, a 'rififi,' a break-in, a caper. Some call it "the art heist of the century." But it's not an ordinary heist. They stole nothing, except the air, our breath. Petit and crew didn't take anything out. They took in a ton of equipment, most importantly enough heavy wire and support wire to secure his pathway across the towers.

    If you could make a documentary about a successful robbery, it might be something like James Marsh's film about this event. There is the conception, the reconnaissance, the gathering of accomplices, some of whom out of wisdom or fear opt out, even up to the last minute. The false start and bailout. The months of rehearsal. The miniature mock-ups of the top of the towers (handsome, and in wood). The trial runs and on-scene observations, the skillfully made false documents and identities, the changes of costume (for Petit himself, businessman, construction worker, and the ballet shoes and black velvet costume of the tightrope walker And of course Petit and company were documenting all of this. Marsh has admirably gathered all the images, plus simulations, plus the present-day talking heads, several in French, the others in English. This time simulations seem quite justifiable. There are things we need to see--particularly the crew dodging and hiding from guards on the towers.

    It's all like a game; a lark. And at the same time, lethal, dangerous, and a defiance of the laws of man and God. The simulations are appropriate because this is all so unreal anyway. Why not add a little fakery?

    Philippe Petit is more than a little bit strange. And in some indefinable way he is also quintessentially French.. Not only has he an incredible insensitivity to danger (and drive to overcome it), but this diminutive, almost weightless fellow has his unmistakably Napoleonic side, his grandiosity. But also playfulness. One of the best moments is when he is being arrested and photographed (charge: trespassing; event description: "man on wire"), he takes a policeman's uniform cap and balances it on his forehead by the bill, then flips it onto his head. His exploit had made him a celebrity and a mascot. He enhanced life, made a partly clunky new landmark beautiful and remarkable.

    After the event, he knew he was famous. How can you ask me if I'm thirsty, he says to a psychiatrist, when 300 journalists are waiting to interview me? And his first act after release was, as somebody put it "to bang a groupie," which he himself describes as "disgusting." Maybe he was steadier out on the wire, where he remained for half an hour, high over New York, without a net, crossing and re-crossing eight times by his friend's count. And then afterwards, somehow things were so bent out of shape that he ended two key relationships--with his girlfriend and his collaborator (both of whom help narrate this film).

    This is troubling, but Petit is also wise, a saintly kind of man, immune to ordinary temptations (except groupies?). When asked why he'd done it, he said: "If I see three oranges, I have to juggle. And if I see two towers, I have to walk." The psychiatrist judged him "same and ebullient." His was a pure act, an existential declaration of joy, an example of how to live life daily to the fullest. "Every day for him was a work of art," says his girlfriend. "L'art pour l'art," art for art's sake, is his motto. All of which is pretty thought-provoking, and may be inspiring. At a time of many excellent documentaries, this one seems indispensable. It provides a very pure kind of thrill. Needless to say after 9/11, the buildings gone, the recreation of this moment evokes nostalgia and loss.

    Actually Petit has done much since the event. Right afterward the charges of trespassing and criminal conduct were dropped with the promise that he would perform juggling acts for children in Central Park, and he was given a permanent pass to the towers. A policeman interviewed at the time says when he watched, he knew he was seeing something unlike anything he'd ever see again. Sometimes you do know. When he was interviewed for this film, he was artist in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
    helpful•84
    14
    • Chris Knipp
    • Aug 5, 2008

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 29, 2008 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Людина на канаті
    • Filming locations
      • World Trade Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
    • Production companies
      • Discovery Films
      • BBC Storyville
      • UK Film Council
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • £1,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $2,962,242
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $51,392
      • Jul 27, 2008
    • Gross worldwide
      • $5,258,569
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 34 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Man on Wire (2008)
    Top Gap
    What is the French language plot outline for Man on Wire (2008)?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    2022 TV Guide: The Best Shows Coming This Year
    See the full list
    Image caption not available
    2:02
    LGBTQIA+ Movies and Shows to Watch This Summer
    Watch the video

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.