MAN ON WIRE :: THE ULTIMATE HIGH

Ingredients: a 3/4" thick wire; the newly constructed World Trade Center towers; the pre-terrorist attack security of 1974; no safety net, and a quarter of a mile fall to Earth. The result? A new documentary by director James Marsh portraying French born acrobat, tight rope walker and magician in a heist style film which tells the story of the staging and execution of his unauthorized rope walk between the Twin Towers in 1974. Several news outlets, including the most recent from the Irish Independent describe the event and the executioner. "Born in Nemours, on August 13, 1949, Petit developed a fascination with magic, the circus and most particularly funambulisme, or trapeze-artistry. An accomplished unicyclist, magician and street magician (he was one of the first street performers to appear in 60's Paris), Petit's great love was walking the tightrope, and the sense of freedom and weightlessness it entailed. Working on circus wires, though, a mere 20 or 30 feet above the ground, seemed not much of a challenge to Petit, who considered himself something of a performance artist and wanted to turn his highwire walks into 'events'. And what better way than walking between the tallest manmade structures." WATCH THE FILM TRAILER: