Man on Wire

One man's determination to walk a tightrope between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York is detailed in this jaw-dropping blend of traditional talking-head interviews, archive footage and meticulous period re-creation. Its subject, charismatic Frenchman Philippe Petit, is a joy to watch, an ebullient mix of elegant mime artist Marcel Marceau and cartoon dervish Road Runner, and the film offers a deceptively sturdy sounding board for his often crazy ideas. This is not so much a documentary as a true-life heist movie in which the "crime" is a death-defying conceptual art event: Petit and his accomplices spent months planning their "coup", and his boyhood dream finally came true 1,350 feet above the streets of Manhattan in 1974. Sadly, no video footage exists of Petit's 45-minute walk, but director James Marsh expertly captures the vertiginous thrills of that incredible day, leaving one not just with a sense of wonder but a profound sense of admiration for the rigorous preparation and heady commitment that made it all possible.