A documentary by James Marsh. Rated G. Opens Friday, August 8, at Fifth Avenue and Cinemark Tinseltown cinemas

You know from the start of Man on Wire that Parisian aerialist, juggler, and all-around madman Philippe Petit survived travelling a line between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. The act was well documented, and British-born director James Marsh (who made the more erratic Wisconsin Death Trip and, more recently, okay feature The King) smoothly supplements original footage and stills with moody re-enactments and interviews with Petit, whose ability to verbally act out his stories and illuminate his obsessions is often as compelling as the stunts themselves.

We may know the outcome, but the tale is arranged like an outrageously suspenseful caper flick. After seeing Petit—in top hat and mime tights—traverse the towers of Notre Dame and the bridge spires overlooking Sydney Harbour, we follow the impish redhead’s ardent attention to the construction of the WTC. We also get to know his Australian, American, and French conspirators during arduous schemes to penetrate the already formidable security of the towers; they want to sneak in the literal ton of equipment needed to achieve what no one else on earth thought needed to be done.

Although 9/11 goes unmentioned, and the only hint of the then-bursting Watergate scandal is a TV clip of Richard Nixon sweatily proclaiming his non-crookedness, the movie has a powerful subtext. It contrasts the ideals of a place allegedly devoted to internationalism with what became of it, just as Petit’s audacity is hurled against the faceless monumentality of the modern state. Still, even the cops were stunned when they arrested him. (The title is taken from a police call sheet that day.) One gruff officer calls Petit a “tightrope dancer”, because “you couldn’t really refer to what he did as walking”.