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Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Marah Strauch's awe-inspiring documentary shares much in common with Man on Wire, except the vertigo-inducing daredevilry here is all captured spectacularly on camera. The focus of the film is Carl Boenish (it rhymes with "Danish"), a cinematographer with a passion for skydiving. Together with his friends, Boenish developed the new sport of Base jumping in the late 1970s, after having conquered the cliffs of California's Yosemite National Park and the TV aerial masts and skyscrapers of Houston and LA. Each target was planned like a hit-and-run heist, and each was recorded for posterity as a mini-movie. Hounded by park rangers, the police and building owners alike, the group were seen as law-breakers. But this outlaw image is hard to reconcile with the wholesome, geeky Boenish and his equally clean-cut wife Jean, who became an unlikely poster couple for what was to become a worldwide phenomenon. An air of impending tragedy lingers over Strauch's film, as Jean recounts the couple's ever more ambitious adventures, but the archive footage of the free-spirited Carl and his aerial exploits remain a joy to behold.

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Credits

Crew

rolename
DirectorMarah Strauch

Details

Languages
English
Available on
DVD
Formats
Colour
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