Man on Wire
This past weekend I watched the documentary film Man on Wire, which is about Philippe Petit, a high wire artist, and his attempt to sneak into the World Trade Center Twin Towers, in order to attach a wire between the towers and perform his artistry. It’s a wonderful movie. I highly recommend it.
One image in particular has stuck with me after watching the film. Prior to the Twin Towers caper, Petit attached a wire between the two towers of the Notre Dame Cathedral in his home town of Paris. In the documentary his girlfriend from the time of the event describes the scene. Amazed by the beauty of Petit’s artistry, she goes into the Cathedral and observes a ceremony taking place - organ music is playing, priests are chanting and prostrating themselves on the ground. I imagine the sights, smells, and sounds of an elaborate religious ceremony. And while all of this is going on inside, Petit is performing his beautiful high wire dance on the wire suspended between the two towers of the cathedral. Crowds have gathered all around the building, amazed at the awe-inspiring beauty of the spectacle they are priveleged to witness. And all of this is going on while an elaborate religious ceremony is going on inside the cathedral.
I can’t quite explain why, but this image strikes me as profound.
