Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by tunenut (A) on August 25, 2008 at 09:08:27

for me. And I've seen many movies this summer.

Well, I know documentaries are generally unpopular, but I tend to like them most of all. Just personal I guess, same reason I read mostly nonfiction rather than fiction.

This particular documentary tells the fascinating story of the man who planned and executed the walk on the tightrope between the two World Trade Center towers. It was 1974 and they were not even finished.

This was a chunk of history that was totally new to me. We are introduced to fascinating and likable characters. We see how this crazy scheme was undertaken. We get some glimpses into the motivations- why would someone face a highly probable death, why would others help him on this quest.

There is archival footage of the gang as the very young conspirators 34 years ago, along with many talking heads interviews of the same gang today.

There are unspoken subtexts of course- the WTC was not even quite done in that time, security was loose. The changes of the last 30 years permeate this story from the perspective of 2008.