Man on Wire

This documentary was extensively thorough with it's footage and very successfully put together, sequentially as to include the viewer. I was amazed with how much live footage they actually had captured during the years of planning and plotting. In the beginning Philippe states that he does not particularly like fairy tales, but his is, in fact, a fairy tale. It successfully incorporates suspense, adventure, hope, a love story, and in the end, although it's so final and does translate to us a fairytale ending, it is satisfying. I know that a lot of times successful writers or directors try and steer clear of an ending wrapped up in finality, but in this case it really worked. The characters in this documentary did a good job conveying all of these events, the feelings, and retelling it with great detail (I'm sure reviewing footage helped). It was interesting to see how emotional some of his friends had gotten during the interviews, how far and willing they were to help out in Philippe's quest. Maybe they were living through his dream as well.

It is curious to me how he relentlessly pursued this one specific vision. The idea of a destiny. Little do individuals have an "Ah ha!" moment when they realize that this is what they were born to do. He was truly something special, even from a young age, but how was he so sure of himself? Rarely do you ever find someone of this nature. He was an artist through and through, so ambitious, even at the disintegration and alienation of certain relationships. I like how he talks about passion though. I respect his intesity and desire for life. Philippe says at one point, "If I die, what a beautiful death!" The fact that he was not afraid to try was inspiring, and through this philosophy, reached a large audience by his small (and large) ambitions.

Even though what Philippe did was incredible, i felt a self centeredness to him, an arrogance. All of the individuals involved revolved around him and his vision. It was amazign to see the loyalty they had towards him, some of them only knowing each other for a short time. It was interesting to hear his girlfriend explain how he never bothered to ask what her passions or desires were in life, and that it was apparent that she must follow his. In a way this too was selfless. He was giving people a vision of life, of possiblity. I thought it was balanced nicely, but there was always a tug of war between the two.

The idea of exploring rebellion really stuck out in my mind. That we must rebell against ourselves, against not only our fears but success, to not repeat ourselves, and to view this as the true challange at hand. This movie allowed myself to take a deeper look at my fears. Everybody has them, although they may differ, we share a commonality in sharing fear. We must face them, pass them, exceed them, and move forward. Yes, this is easier said than done, but Phillippe has given us "a window through which one may pass" as Sander puts it.