MovieChat Forums > Man on Wire (2008) Discussion > Story after the story

Story after the story

posted 16 years ago by bernard-66
9 replies | jump to latest

I just saw the documatry on BBC and thought it was remarkable.
As remarkable as the story, I am left with an awkward feeling.
I can't help but wonder what happened after 'the coup' (did they spell it 'coop' in the diary/agenda??).

At the end, his main aid virtually broke out in tears just thinking about what happened when the story ends, 35 plus years later. Does anybody know specfics? There are some hints in the doc. Phillipe snatches a groupie while his team is waiting for him. He gets an permenant visit card to the deck and his other aid gets expelled from the US.
Kind of bitter.... after years of planning and bonding, the dream, the idealism the star seems to fall for a celeb status after all is accomplished. On the other side even after all these years, his aides still seem to be loyal to the dream.

Come think of it, did phillipe even once mention any appreciation towards his team?

[–] youngian67 16 years ago

I was thinking along similar lines. As this was his ultiamte spectacular walk and the culmination of a life's dream, was the rest of his life downhill?

Being a hell of a good story teller, there's probably more fascinating chapters to be told.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] Tess22 16 years ago

It was a beautiful documentary but I was disappointed by Philippe at the end. I'm sure his girlfriend wasn't as understanding as she seems today and he doesn't seem to understand the sacrifices they all made. For me the most interesting person in the film was his main aide Blondeau.

"Just say the right words. Worry about what they mean later."

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] jessie-ct 14 years ago

I wonder too. You'd think that Philippe would mention it in his book. I'm going to read it to find out.

What a beautiful documentary though, am I right?

His friends were incredible.
I can't get over how amazing of characters they were/are.

[–] frankzappayay 14 years ago

Yeah it was really good. I was disappointed by the ending though. It was all a bit artsy fartsy and I am more interested in the full story. Yes it was a beautiful thing, but what happened with the girlfriend? Those two seemed to be completely in love, what went wrong? And what about the best friend? He seemed to love Philippe (in a none homosexual way), but Philippe seemed to only take and not give anything back.

[–] rmatlan 14 years ago

On one of the other threads someone says that his main friend and his girlfriend ended up together. I think the point at which it breaks is when they are going back to France and this has been a totally exhausting experience for his friends, to the point of practically getting nervous breakdowns. They are proud and exhilarated, but very happy that it's done and what's Phillippe's reaction? Let's do it again!! Let's go somewhere else. I think at that point Jean Louis realized that this guy is someone I care deeply for, but he's going to kill me and kill himself and I CANNOT keep living this way and so that's why the friendship breaks. In some ways at 25 Jean Louis decided maybe some day I've got to grow up, while Phillippe is Peter Pan, why should I grow up??? I love being a kid and I'm great at it. Also the arrogance of the artist just exudes from Phillippe. He's amazing, but it's not clear he'd work half as hard for his friends as they did for him. Not the least hint of regret at losing his friends do you see at any time.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] wmjahn 14 years ago

I just saw this mesmerizing documentary, which is probably the most bautiful and colourful docu ever made (I felt I got tears in my eyes at some moments) and also thought what happened afterwards, this could never be topped anyway (and hasn´t, up to this day).

Compared to Petits´ achievement, base-jumping is something for pussies, but no artistic achievment in any way.

Anyway, I wonder if anybody has read "To Reach The Clouds", maybe there are some answers in the book? (I´ll get me a copy asap).