Review 462: The Walk

The Walk is a delightfully funny and inspiring bigographical drama film and an excellent showcase for the technical expertise of director Robert Zemeckis and a delightfully quirky performance from star Joseph Gordon-Levitt. 

Based on the memoir To Reach the Clouds by Philippe Petit, As a boy, Philippe Petit dreams of performing daring feats for dazzled crowds. As an adult (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), his life's ambition comes true when he becomes a high-wire artist who stares death in the face with every step. Under the guidance of mentor Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley), the daredevil devises a plan to walk on a tightrope attached to the north and south towers or the World Trade Centre. With the help from his team and against all odds, Petit attempts the seemingly impossible stone on Aug. 7, 1974.

But Zemeckis’ isn’t just interested in the actual event. He takes the time to explore Philippe Petit’s life, how he discovered his passion for the art of high wire walking, the friends he makes on his journey such as fellow street performer Annie (Charlotte Le Bon), photographer Jean Louis (Clement Sibony)
Once he discovered his passion, he began searching for people whom he could trust with his vision, hence why he refers to them as his “accomplices”.

In terms of genre and technique, The Walk is, at its core, a heist movie. Not in the traditional sense that Philippe and his gang are trying to steal something but more in the sense that they’re stealing a moment in time: Trying to get to a place that he’s not supposed to be. It’s not that he’s doing anything wrong per say, he’s just breaking some rules in order to achieve something spectacular.

Altough never confronted, the ultimate fate of the Twin Towers hangs over the films events.
There's something undeniably nostalgic and poignet about seeing them in all there splendor and Zemeckis seems to determined to capture this whenever he frames them.
He understands that we can't just remember the Twin Towers in tradgedy, we also have to understand that a human face was put on those towers by an artist. Petit’s bravery and determination

Robert Zemeckis' direction is excellently unobtrusive. In particular, his direction of the Petit’s iconic wire walk is startling making excellent use of wides and overhead shots to showcase the height, scale and emotional weight of Petit’s walk between the Twin Towers. The cinematography is fabulous and captures the scope and the range of Petit's wire work as well as the beauty of Paris and New York in 1974.

In particular the opening 5 mins showcasing Philippe's humble beginnings as a juggler in Paris are gorgeously rendered in Black and White. The score by Alan Silvestri is beautiful, the special effects (particularly for the titular walk) are jaw droppingly excellent, the tension is killer and the ending where Petit breaks the fourth wall with a knowing glance to us as an audience and the camera pans to wide of the Towers is when the film truly honors their great legacy.

Then we get to the titular walk itself; I don't know how they achived it, but the results are nothing short of mind bogglingly breathtaking, the weight and the tension of the sequence is felt through Zemeckis skill as a director and te

Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives a chirpy, likeable performance as Philippe Petit.
He knows the whole stunt is madness and that no one in their right mind would attempt something like this but it's the very reason why he must do it as he eloquently put it.

Robert Zemeckis and his co-writer Christopher Browne wisely never depict Petit as an attention seeker, he wants to make an impact on the world, he wants to put his mark on the wold. He wanted to show people something that they’d never seen before - he was thinking very much outside the box. He's one of these people who champions the idea of being able to accomplish anything if you put your mind to it. 

Charlotte Le Bon gives a luminously earnest performance playing Annie, a fellow street performer whom Philippe develops a romantic relationship with.
Annie was struggling with her own ambitions and dreams and didn't really know who she was or what she wanted as an artist or as a person or as a woman. 
Philippe is magnetic man, so fell in love, not just with him, but with his dream and over the course of the film she becomes his conscience, keeps him grounded and stops him from loosing his head.
Sometimes people need someone to believe in.

Ben Kingsley is  playing Papa Rudy

James Badge Dale is terrific playing Jean-Pierre

The Walk is certainly one to remember, 4.5/5.

The Anonymous Critic.