[yasr_overall_rating]
In 1974, high-wire artist Philippe Petit recruits a team of people to help him realize his dream: to walk the the immense void between the World Trade Center towers.
Robert Zemeckis is one of my all-time favorite directors. From his first film, the Beatles-themed “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” his Indiana Jones knockoff “Romancing the Stone” and his “Back to the Future” trilogy, Zemeckis has always infused his films with a sense of fun and excitement. Even his later more serious turns such as “Castaway,” “Flight” and now “The Walk,” still have that sense of adventure that most other filmmakers would discard in favor of pure drama and tragedy. Zemeckis is that rare filmmaker who can combine literally every element you can think of in a serious movie and still entertain. “The Walk” is a technical marvel unlike anything you have ever seen. It’s not every day you can watch a movie whose plot is pretty straightforward but then find yourself lost in the technical aspects which are usually reserved for big summer mindless blockbusters filled with CGI effects and little human interaction. “The Walk” successfully takes that attribute and flips it on its back so you actually become involved, emotionally, through a medium that is typically intended for visual spectacle.
The movie begins in France in the 1950s where we witness young Philippe sneaking into a circus during a thunderstorm. As he makes his way inside to the circus ring, he is awestruck as he observes a high-wire performer walking a very thin wire high above the crowd. The noise of the circus fades away as a smile makes its way across Philippe’s face and we then cut to Paris in the early 1970s where Philippe is now a young man, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Tightrope walking has become his passion and it is here that he meets Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley), the owner of a traveling circus and the man that becomes his mentor and father-figure. After sneaking into and successfully walking between two of the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral, he sets his sights higher, literally. After reading an article in a magazine about the near-completion of the Twin Towers in New York City, at a staggering 1,368 and 1,362 feet, respectively, Philippe knows what he must do. Along with his girlfriend Annie (Charlotte Le Bon) and best friend Jean-Louis (Clément Sibony), they head for America.
Once there, Jean-Louis calls on some friends from Paris and a few who live in New York City and as a group, they begin to stake out the World Trade Center. They must evaluate how they will be able to make their way to the top of the towers without being noticed or indeed, apprehended, along with boxes and crates of their equipment. This part of the movie director Zemeckis auspiciously turns into that of a heist movie, complete with a jazzy melody resembling “Ocean’s Eleven.” It is playful but at the same time enlightening, as the audience uncovers, along with the characters, hidden entrances and entryways that they will be able to utilize once the time comes. And come it does. After managing to secretly rig a steel cable across the 200 ft gap between the two towers employing a bow and arrow, on the morning of August 7th, 1974, Philippe, armed only with a balancing pole, takes his first step onto the wire, the beginning of a performance that will ultimately last 45 minutes in which he will walk between the two towers a total of eight times, at one point, even lying down on the wire.
So many movies these days claim to be based on true stories or real events and after a while, that assertion quickly wears off but in this instance, there is actual footage, photographs and news coverage of the event and director Robert Zemeckis achieves the story beautifully. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is absolutely perfect in the role of the determined and uncompromising Philippe accompanied by an almost near-perfect French accent. The supporting cast, especially Ben Kingsley are at the top of their game but make no mistake, this is director Robert Zemeckis’ film, a technological realization with special effects that have never been seen before. The first time you see the two towers in their grandiose, imposing majesty, it’s hard not to be overcome with emotion but the film moves along at such a crackerjack pace, the buildings become part of the background and once you’re caught up in the story, you believe that they are still standing. For people who suffer from Acrophobia, I would like to say go see this film, for the technical prowess alone but even though I have a head for heights, there were times when my feet would not stop tingling so enter at your own risk!
After Philippe finished his high-wire act, he was arrested but never sentenced. Instead, a judge dismissed all charges in exchange for him performing his act in Central Park for a group of children. The movie begins with Philippe standing atop the Statue of Liberty and addressing the audience directly. We cut to him from time to time as he informs us what he was thinking at a particular moment in time and while I personally don’t care for this approach, the story and acting should be more than enough to carry the film, it works because of Philippe’s constant almost manic enthusiasm, from the smallest of things to his eventual walk between the towers. At the end of the film, he informs us that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey gave him a lifetime pass so he could visit the Twin Towers’ observation deck any time he wanted. He states that there was an expiration date that had been crossed off and in its place the word “forever” was written. At that point, the camera pans across one last time to the two towers, glistening in the afternoon sunlight.
Now playing at IMAX theaters and in general release October 9th
