Wednesday, 9 September 2015


JUST HOW CRAZY IS THE FRENCH TIGHTROPE ARTIST PORTRAYED BY JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT IN "THE WALK"?
If you've watched the trailer, and if you know it's directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back To The Future, Forrest Gump, Contact, Flight), you'd tell yourself that this is a must watch. The film is based on the true story of French tightrope artist Philippe Petit who walked a wire between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. As we wait for the film to be played in cinemas at the end of September, let's get to know more about the daredevil Petit, and just how crazy his livelong devotion to tightrope walking is.
Prior to the Twin Towers stint, Petit has walked between the towers of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris (1971) and pulled off another death-defying walk between the two northern pylons of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia (1973). For his project at World Trade Center buildings, he spent 6 years of planning, and spent several months casing the premises as he finalized his plans. Petit even used disguises including of a reporter and construction worker during his visits to the tower. He had a group of friends who helped made his crazy dream a reality. Petit made fake ID cards for his collaborators so that they could gain access to the roof and sneaked the tightrope equipment into the buildings a week before the event was to take place.


Now, the most insane fact on Petit. He actually spent a total of 45 minutes on that high wire 1,350 feet above the ground without a harness! By his fourth crossing between the towers, Petit said he was getting so comfortable that it felt as if the wire was getting shorter. Now get this, not only did he walked, but danced, kneeled, and lay on the wire for the entire 45 minutes. After the walk, he was arrested but was let off the hook for his "crime" on the condition that he perform a free children's show in Central Park.
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