When I came into the cinema hall and took my seat right at the front row, I noticed some things that don't happen very often. I got to see a movie, relaxed in a near empty theatre without side-talks. I saw the Tristar logo in a new movie after a long time. And for the first time in my life I actually wanted to induce vertigo in me voluntarily. I think this shows that this kind of movie, you don't get to see very often.
The Walk is a film by acclaimed director Robert Zemeckis and it tells the true story of (and leading to) the high wire-walk of the New York Twin Towers in 1974 by Phillippe Petit, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
This event was in great coverage at the time, so was the intent of Petit so naturally this one isn't the first film to cover it. In fact the documentary Man on Wire (2008) by James Marsh and starring Petit is often considered to be a definitive telling of the story. I haven't seen it nor did I know about this story altogether before The Walk though from the looks of things, it takes much inspiration from the documentary in its presentation.
However, through Zemeckis' expertise in modern film-making techniques, he knows what the medium brings to make this version stand out. So he focuses on the more experiential side of things. The story itself is very light on the mind as Gordon-Levitt's Petit talks us through his journey atop the Statue of Liberty like a circus presenter announcing his performance. We see Petit grow from being a lowly street performer to a daring artist. It builds up the climax from the start and keeps us engaged throughout the duration via a heist element with most of the first act introducing our protagonist. his motivation to walk the Towers and the relationships he makes in between. There is a romance angle to this as well between Petit and his first accomplice, Annie. It was handled well and was kept re-strained enough to not disrupt the main narrative and its conclusion is also something you might not expect.
But as I said Zemeckis focuses on the experiential side of things and instead of trying to make us sympathise with this person with the story, he immerses us in the situation itself and encourages the audience to evoke the same emotions he felt, thus placing us right inside Petit's psyche. That is where the 3D comes in. This movie is one of those rare live-action movies where 3D actually enhances the story and is not gimmicky. If you are afraid of heights then you will feel vertigo, I know this cause it happened to me, and for the first time in my life I actually liked the adrenaline rush. I guess it helps that the film from the very start was made with 3D in mind. Each shot of the last sequence is designed to make you feel exactly what Petit must have felt that moment.
There is a story that in one of the test screenings, a person actually started to vomit. It's that good.
The place where I really cringed per se was in fact at the climax itself when he is walking the wire and he constantly alternates between the north and south towers to avoid the police. It's just that the nature of the sequence in the way its shown is really drawn out, full of tension and suspense. He just goes back and forth so much that after time, all of that rush just starts to fade out since he is just going back and forth. I was watching with my dad and he was just saying to me (paraphrasing here), 'this is too much, this guy is too stupid'. Now that I look back on it, I think the director wanted us to feel exactly that since Petit actually did start to show-boat after a while in reality as well. Nonetheless, it was becoming really detrimental to the tension and the excess of it all just took me out.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the centre piece of the movie when it came to the actors without a shadow of doubt. He effortlessly makes us see him as the character of Phillippe Petit and not as Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing Phillippe Petit, which is always a sign of a great actor. Gordon-Levitt did actually went method with this by training in wire-walking by Petit himself. And when it comes to the French accent, it is different than the Hollywood stereotype because as much as any language, French too has regional variations. For example Canadian French is different than Parisian French, what Gordon-Levitt was trying to achieve. I looked at footage of the real Petit and I believe he matched it quite well. Another special mention goes to Sir Ben Kingsley as Papa Rudy, Petit's mentor. He just brings both gravitas and levity to his role that added to the movie.
The Walk is actually an apt title if you see closely. It is not a movie about the journey, neither is it about the person itself, it is a movie about the emotions that transpired in one of the most dangerous feats and the movie does a great job of making you feel those emotions. It is a film that tries to go beyond a narrative into something more abstract. It is about being in the moment. Zemeckis has crafted more of an experience than a story which makes it its own unique thing. And the best part is that it never makes a 9/11 statement.
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