Some people will just move ahead with a goal they set for themselves. You can say they live to the fullest extent of their being, embrace the adventure that can be found in everyday life, not once thinking that a career as a bank teller may be a better choice. These wacky people can make good subjects for documentaries.
But as you may know, for every Grizzly Man there’s a Mindscape Of Alan Moore (I’m sorry, he’s a brilliant writer but listening to him is like pushing your head through cold oatmeal).
For me, Grizzly Man can be aptly compared to Man on Wire. In the trailers for the former, Timothy Treadwell seemed an irritating, delusional person. Well… he was… and his death was a tragedy and I wasn’t interested in his story. But Werner Herzog directed it, and I gave it a chance and found it to be engaging and sympathetic in the right way without excusing Treadwell’s behavior. Examining the individual madness that drives us as individuals connects us as a species.
Phillippe Petit strikes me as a boisterous charlatan who, even if you twisted my arm, I wouldn’t want to have a cup of coffee with. He wears me out just watching him. But, darn it, you got me-just how did he accomplish this feat that I barely remember as a teenager in 1974?
Director James Marsh (The King, 2005, Wisconsin Death Trip, 1999) breaks down the lead-up to the event with interviews and re-enactments, and in listening to the stories of everyone involved, the film actually functions as a spyglass look at an era. Call it the last vestiges of luck, innocence and taking chances as the dark end-days of the 60′s were still in full swing. You feel everyone involved, to this day, was glad they did it and to have called Phillippe a friend.
But I don’t feel it was the art crime of the century, and I disagree with reviews that compare it to a master crime/suspense thriller. C’mon, he’s a circus performer and we know how it ends before it begins. Marsh tells a good story, about a man with a little bit of uncommon madness who found his calling and does what he does… and had fun.
Other recent, excellent documentaries: Wild Combination, A Man Called Pearl
Documentary
Rated PG-13
DVD Release Date: 12/9/08