In his 'Minnesota Declaration' manifesto, Werner Herzog declares, “there are deeper strata of truth in cinema, and there is such a thing as poetic, ecstatic truth. It is mysterious and elusive, and can be reached only through fabrication and imagination and stylization.” Rather than concentrate his documentaries on the world of fact, then, what Herzog seeks is to provoke a more instinctive, emotional response. While the framing of Man on Wire’s story as a crime caper provides a useful, entertaining plot device, it gives us little real knowledge of our characters; for this, the film relies instead on visually-conveyed “ecstatic truths”, particularly those found in the still images and footage of Philippe Petit walking between the two towers of the World Trade Centre.

A telling moment comes when Petit is being arrested, and is repeatedly bombarded with the question “Why?” by journalists. He is incredulous that anyone could ask this after what they’ve just seen. At this point we too have also just witnessed Petit walk between the Twin Towers, in a remarkable montage crafted from still photographs taken at the top of the towers, from those who witnessed it from far below on the ground, and from short sections of film footage. When Petit says, “there is no why - why is an irrelevance”, you believe him, since the catharsis created by the images you have just seen makes all the danger and struggle that he went through feel worth it. Similarly, the description of his crime on his arrest sheet simply says “Man on Wire” - a fitting example of the inadequacy of words to describe or sum up the inexplicable. We are given a new insight into that silly little eureka moment in a dentist’s waiting room that occurred twenty years previously and an hour earlier in the film.

Similarly, with Jean-Louis, one gets the sense he only partially shares the same dream as Philippe. He is motivated by the challenge of pulling off the walk, but also, like Annie, by an overwhelming sense of responsibility. As the film draws to a close and the principle characters reflect on what has happened, although one might think that Philippe’s life might have become empty after achieving his dream, he seems for the most part less affected by what took place than do Annie or Jean-Louis. Annie describes how after the walk things were never the same again, and that the couple broke up shortly afterwards. Whilst the dreams of Philippe led to him becoming a media star, Annie’s sacrifice of her own dreams seem to have led to nothing. Jean-Louis’ friendship with Philippe similarly came to an end afterwards, and in an interview 30 years later he is moved to tears as he relates this. Yet both Jean-Louis and Annie remain adamant that their endeavour had been worthwhile: they truly believe in the magic that they helped Philippe to create 1350 feet above New York City, and after what we have just seen we are inclined to agree with them.