I spent last night spellbound by the short film Man on Wire, a retrospective documentary that looks back at one mans burn desire to tightrope walk between the Twin Tower in New York. The film was on BBC two, and if you missed it then it will be BBC iPlayer for the next five days, and it is more than worth the watch.
The basic context of the film is a series of interviews that documents the whole build up to the eventual successful tightrope walk between the towers. Interspersed by some staggering stills photography of his amazing stunt, that dates back to the 1970’s. I was blown away with how big a personality of the ‘aerial artist’ was, along with the sheer audacity of the undertaking. He made Dean Potter look like a bit of a punter.
If you have ever tried a high wire or high slack line, which a few years ago had the luck to try the difference between just off the ground and high up even with a safety wire is ridiculous. Anyway please explore BBC iPlayer and enjoy Man on Wire. Totally breath-taking.
For a trailer see below, a DVD is also available on Amazon