My sister asked me a question about Man on Wire that the average person probably wonders as well: what's so significant about this man that he deserves his own documentary? Stumbling onto the film, the subject may seem trivial and Phillipe may come across as a seeker for 15 minutes of fame. As one begins to watch the film however, the story unfolds into different depths. The film is more of a character study of the man that pulled off the stunt than it is a documentation of how the stunt came to be.
Phillipe is an interesting human. As the film explores, he is a rebellious "bad boy" trapped inside an artists mind. As a kid, he loved to hang upside down and climb trees and do anything else peculiar or dangerous. When he got older he used his passion for danger to entertain. Phillipe is a magician, acrobat, wire walker, and overall a passionate man. He enjoys life and sees it from a different perspective than anybody else, literally; he has walked between bridges as well as Notre Dame on a wire and the view, as he explains, is something that no man besides himself will ever see. He treasures this and lives life through a different mental perspective than the average person, which is influenced by his visual perspectives. The film beautifully shoots Phillipe as he does tricks on wires, focusing on his concentration and creating the illusion that at times he's meditating on thin air.
The film uses photos, videos, and dramatizations to tell his story of crossing the World Trade Center. Besides exploring the beauty of taking risks is to life, there is also a subtle political message. Phillipe crossed the World Trade Center just as it was first opened, and not even fully completed. Through careful observations and trespassing, he was able to create a plan to sneak up on the towers at night and bypass guards. At the end, when he's finally caught, the police arrest him and send him to be psychologically examined. Even though he could have been given jail time, they drop charges if he agrees to perform a show to children. Today, Phillipe, a man that just wanted to make people happy and wonder, would have probably been labeled as a terrorist, especially considering he's a foreigner, if he attempted to do such a thing. This is not said or even really hinted in the film, but the impression comes across of how tight national security is now a days compared to the 70's and how authority was generally able to distinguish between violent acts and art.
The second film, Street Fight, has an overt political message. While Man on Wire is an artistic approach to a documentary, Street Fight uses the documentary as a tool for information (but don't be turned off, it remains just as entertaining as Man on Wire, maybe more so). It follows Cory Booker, a Yale graduate that grew up in a predominately white neighborhood in Bergen County, New Jersey. Booker has the aspiration of using his fortunate upbringing to make the world better to live in, a rarity in politicians. Pre-election, Cory decided to move into one of Newark's most dangerous projects and walk the streets to personally introduce himself to the citizens and persuade them to vote for him. His political approach is hands on and he's more about action than words to win over the people.
Cory's opponent is political powerhouse Sharpe James. His upbringing was very different from Cory's. He was born in Newark and raised by lower-class parents, living in a time where Newark might have been at an all time low. As mayor for over 30 years, he's created an illusion of beginning a Renaissance in Newark, building malls and updating housing in the downtown area so that the middle class could benefit. For 30 years, the lower class has not seen the benefits of the middle class and have been ignored. Nevertheless, through his dirty politics and lies, Sharpe has remained popular through out Newark, even to the poor black communities.
The film does a great job of truly revealing the man Sharpe is. He goes on to say racist remarks about Booker, how he's educated and light skinned and not a true black, even, out of nowhere, calling him a Jew! There was a very moving part in the film where somebody from Booker's campaign commented on this and the racism blacks have for other blacks, saying that blacks complain about being treated unfairly, but when a privileged black comes along, instead of embracing them they label them white. This is directed specifically at racist blacks and not generalized to all. There's also a part where Sharpe falsely criticizes Booker for buying the election by sending paid workers to polls instead of volunteers. One of the cameramen then sneaks on a Sharpe campaign bus and finds a group of people from Philadelphia that were paid to come to Newark and wear clothing and parade to support Sharpe James. Most of them didn't even know who Sharpe James was, let alone who they exactly were supposed to be supporting. There's so many disgusting political tricks in the movie pulled by Sharpe James that it has to be watched to believe. Booker lost the election, but became mayor in 2006, keeping his promise of reducing crime in Newark. He even gave the city their first murder free month in 44 years. Sharpe James did not seek reelection in 2006 and is currently spending time in jail for 25 counts including conspiracy and mail fraud. Talk about a happy ending.
Also, talking about how bad Newark is, I remember going there one time for an outdoor concert and was almost completely certain that something bad was going to happen to me. The security was tight and everybody looked bummy and dangerous. And this concert was in the downtown area of Newark, when Cory Booker had been in office for a year. It also didn't help that I stuck out like some kind of space alien amongst the all black, not quite as impressively dressed crowd.
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