The Walk

BY SAMANTHA ROBERTS

The Walk is based on a true story about Philippe Petit, a French high-wire artist known for his high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on August 7, 1974. The movie has been highly recognized, rated well on Rotten Tomatoes by critics and regular viewers. Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk included a 3D version, showcasing Petit’s skills favorably through breathtaking cinematography. Philippe Petit is played by Joseph Gordon Levitt in the movie, but he was not the first to portray Petit’s skills: a documentary of Petit’s story was made in 2008, called Man On a Wire. This new, innovated version of Petit’s story in the movie, The Walk, was inspirational and gave a memorable memorial to the Twin Towers.

The movie first showcases Petit as an adult overlooking the towers, reminiscing on his remarkable accomplishment. This foreshadows what will soon happen, and the immensity of the suspense that comes with it. He is witty and nostalgic while introducing his story, inviting the audience to take a glance at his life starting when he was a kid. So, the movie then refers back to Petit’s childhood. Petit started out interested in high-wire technique when he visited the circus in town. Soon after his circus visit, he began this new hobby. His parents didn’t approve, however, so eventually he moved out to pursue his dreams of becoming an entertainer. He started out by just performing on the streets; he would draw a performance circle on the street and allow no one else to enter.  

During one of his performances, he bites into a candy a fan gave him and he hurt his tooth. He went to the dentist, and while in the waiting room reading a magazine, he saw a picture of the construction of the Twin Towers in America. With a pencil, he drew a line between the top of the towers, and ever since then his dream was born. He wanted to walk that approximately 140 foot distance, 1600 ft above the ground. Under the guidance of his mentor Papa Rudy, an experienced tight-rope instructor who Petit met as a child, Petit devises his plan to walk on a tightrope attached to the north and south towers of the World Trade Center. While performing on the streets, he met Annie. She was his first team member in on his plan which he referred to as, “le coup” (the “artistic crime of the century”). During his journey, he picked up a couple more team members to help him make it all happen. With help from his team, Petit attempted “le coup” on August 7, 1974.

This movie seemed to take everyone’s breath away. It was thrilling, funny, and realistic. The recreation of Petit’s story was inspirational; the world must remember his madness. The replica of the Twin Towers in the movie also warmed everyone’s heart, creating a sense of nostalgia. The entire movie focused on someone following his dreams and actually going through with them. It was interesting and suspenseful at the same time, making everyone in the theaters who didn’t know the real story cover their eyes and ask themselves if he was going to survive.

Some viewers asked after the movie: what parts of this were realistic? Well, like in The Walk, Petit did perform on the streets of Paris. The Walk also confirms how Petit had already completed an illegal high-wire walk at Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral in 1971, before his grand finale at the Twin Towers. The Walk only shows Petit going to New York once, staying there, then completing his stunt. However, the true story reveals that Petit actually made three trips to New York in order to study the Twin Towers and execute his plan. The true story and the movie shows that he spent approximately 45 minutes balancing himself 110 stories in the air, playing games with the police officers at both ends of the cable to arrest him. He made a total of eight passes, paralleling the movie. During the 45 minutes Petit spent on the wire, he knelt down, saluted, and even lied down on the wire. That was all shown in the movie. Also, Petit did indeed receive a lifetime pass to the World Trade Center observatory. This part broke everyone’s heart, considering his lifetime pass is of no value anymore.

The Walk explained the thrilling story extremely well. Joseph Gordon Levitt played the part perfectly, and even though it was only “based” on the true story, it seems as though mostly everything was portrayed accurately. It is a good movie for all ages, and it will keep you at the edge of your seats wanting to know more and more about the legend of Philippe Petit.