Man on Wire

It took tightrope walker Philippe Petit more than six years to plan his illegal high-wire walk between the then-newly constructed Twin Towers in New York. Petit snuck onto the towers several times before the stunt, posing as part of the building crew and as a reporter before finally making his move on August 7, 1974. Early that morning, Petit and his crew commandeered a freight elevator, rode up 104 floors and then used a bow and arrow to send some fishing line across to the other tower. (They used the fishing line to pull across a thin wire, pulling over progressively stronger wires until they worked up to a 450-pound steel cable.) When Petit stepped out onto the wire at 7:15 a.m., he was more than 1,300 feet in the air, and in trouble. (Cops tried for 45 minutes to pull Petit back onto the tower.) James Marsh's film Man on Wire, which won the Academy Award for best documentary in 2008, recalls the feat with commentary by Petit, members of his crew and others. 8 p.m. Discovery Green, 1500 McKinney. For information, call 713-400-7336 or visit www.discoverygreen.com. Free.
Sat., June 6, 2009