The Walk (English, 2015)

A crucial point to note about this biopic on Philippe Petit, is the fact that there has already been a 2008 documentary Man on Wire, covering the same event, that even won numerous awards. Think about the conviction that Robert Zemeckis must have had in bringing out the human side of this feat of brilliance and to re-create the moment using technology. Not only that, he has also succeeded in making the audience travel with Philippe going oooh & aaah and laughing nervously numerous times over the course of the film.

In spite of the French accent looking forced onscreen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt deserves applause n abundance for training under the real Philippe and transforming into an actual wire-walker. Glimpses of his immense talent are visible when he struggles to combat the internal demons before the D-Day.

The masterful Ben Kingsley as the teacher of Philippe delights with his quirks. Charlotte Le Bon is absolutely alluring as Philippe’s lady love Annie. Other supporting characters such as the photographer Clement Sibony, macho Steve Valentine and wily James Badge Dale shine in their respective roles.

Coming to Philippe’s acrophobic friend Jeff (Cesar Domboy), it is his characterization, which functions as the mirror for the audience’s reactions, travelling from fear of heights to embracing the spectacle on display. In addition to the characterization he delivers a champion performance attracting the audience to his reactions even as Philippe is attempting the unthinkable.

The technical work behind re-creating the epic ‘walk’ is beyond the reach of us common movie-going public. But not to praise the work of cameraman Dariusz Wolski, visual effects supervisor, Kevin Baillie, their teams & of course Zemeckis himself who have successfully managed to create the illusion of depth for the audience, is utter blasphemy indeed. The work of composer Alan Silvestri must also be mentioned here for maintaining the suspense level.

If I have to nitpick, I would put my finger on the irritating ‘No Smoking’ message that is placed dead center of the screen, almost like a subtitle for many minutes. No wonder Woody Allen is against releasing his films in India!