Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Pie In The Sky

When Philippe Petit – the lively Frenchman who executed the “artistic crime of the century” in the summer of 1974 by sneaking up to the top of the World Trade Center and, for nearly an hour, performing a high-wire act without safety net or harness—was taken into custody and charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct, reporters immediately shoved microphones in his face. “Why?” they wanted to know. “Why did he do it?”

“Why? That is so American to ask why,” Petit answers in James Marsh’s poignant documentary “Man On Wire,” inspired by his autobiographical account “To Reach The Clouds,” and which takes its name from the words listed on the police record under 'detail of complaint.' “Here I do something magnificent and beautiful and people ask why,” he continues, gesturing his frustration. “There is no why!”

But there is a review at The House Next Door.

No comments: