Directed by Academy Award winner Robert Zemeckis and written by Christopher Browne and Zemeckis, The Walk is a biographical drama based on the story of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit’s incredible walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.
The storyline follows Petit’s life from his childhood obsession with high wire acts, which led to his dropping out of school, through his years as a busker on the streets of Paris and finally to his greatest achievement over 400 meters above the streets of New York.
The Walk is the fascinating story of a challenging and risky journey to fame. Petit needed a number of accomplices to pull off such a massive feat and with each, increased the risks. Petit was ungrateful, single minded and unbelievably brave, whilst his accomplices included a couple of stoners, a rigging assistant who was petrified of heights, and a couple of rebels ready to break the law for art.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as Petit, is an unusual blend of charm and arrogance, and he narrates the film, giving extra insight into Petit’s dreams and fears along the way. Gordon-Levitt beautifully captures Petit’s love of the wire and his golden moments of achievement, sometimes giving this film an almost romantic or whimsical feel, but there are still plenty of edge-of-your seat moments in 3D peering down all 110 floors when Petit finally takes to the wire.
Ably supported by Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, James Badge Dale, Ben Schwartz and Steve Valentine as Petit’s accomplices, The Walk also includes some spectacular CGI, recreating the amazing images of the World Trade Center and Petit’s aerial acrobatics which make this film well worth seeing in the cinema in 3D.
Review by Ceri Horner
Twitter: @CeriHorner
The Walk opens in cinemeas on 15 October 2015.
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