Man on Wire

Philippe

It was tense, but we were eager

to get going. Everything was ready.

Jean-Louis

I remember the extremely tense silence

in the van.

Alan was absolutely sombre,

Philippe extremely tense.

Annie

As for me I was petrified

very worried.

I was disguised as a workman

with a helmet, a shirt...

Jean-Franois

To look like an American,

I had lot of pens in my pocket.

That's typically American, apparently.

David aka "Donald"

Alan aka "Alberf"

And Philippe said to me:

"I know what's going to happen...

...we are going to go in,

and we're going to get caught."

He could no longer carry on living

without having at least tried to...

...to conquer those towers

because it felt like those towers

belonged to him.

It was as if they had been built

especially for him.

I was twenty years old.

And I was

a painfully shy young girl.

I was very surprised

by this individual.

and even more surprised

when he began to chase me relentlessly,

having just met me.

He would bring me flowers,

arrange little dates,

send me love letters.

I was completely overwhelmed,

bowled over, harpooned,

that's what it was.

He introduced me to his wire.

a wire set up at the end of a garden.

I would spend hours watching him walk.

He wasn't that experienced at the time.

He was just beginning his life

as a tightrope walker.

We became inseparable.

In fact my life

was completely consumed by his.

And he never thought to ask me whether

I had my own destiny to follow.

It was quite clear

I had to follow his.

Jean-Louis

Childhood friend

Jean-Louis had told me right away

that it was illegal.

Jean-Franois

Accomplice

So I knew it was illegal, but of course

that's what got me a bit excited!

Against the law,

but not wicked or mean.

It was wonderful!

Notre Dame Cathedral

Paris, June 197 1

Then Philippe appeared on the wire.

It was amazing.

I went inside, all excited,

and I leant over the nave

and saw that a huge ceremony

was taking place in Notre Dame.

There were a dozen or so priests

dressed all in white, arm crossed.

They were lying on the floor,

their heads against the floor.

I was staggered, dumbstruck.

The organist asked me:

"What are you doing here?"

I said to him:
"There's a wirewalker

up there on the towers!"

This gentleman looked at me

with an expression of wonder.

and he said;

"Oh, really! A wirewalker!

How amazing!"

South Tower 3.58pm

We drove the van inside.

We got through

the first security barrier.

We presented the company documents

and the fake invoices.

Everything

was quite carefully planned.

North Tower 4.25pm

The time had come for us to part.

There was a real madness

in his eyes, a real rage.

It was truly:
" I'm going to do this,

no matter what, now is the time" .

And he held me in his arms as if

we would never see each other again.

Sydney, Australia

June 1973

Mark

"The Australian"

One day he showed me a photo

of two buildings in a magazine.

And then I was a bit frightened.

It was inhuman to want to go

and walk up there, 450 meters high.

This was all becoming demonic.

I just wanted to say: "Stop!"

Barry Greenhouse

"The Inside Man"

South Tower 4.27 pm

This beam was over the elevator shaft

that had a drop of 400 meters.

North Tower 6.22pm

South Tower 7.44pm

Jim Moore

A minute ago you said the whole place

was swarming with cops.

This is what they'll make you do

when you're prison.

They'll make you clean the windows

in all the tall towers.

South Tower 8. 10pm

His foot was up my nose

and my foot was stuck

between his arms,

we were completely entwined.

I guess you could say

we really got to know each other.

I've rarely known a man

that way before!

North Tower 9.38pm

Mark

"The Australian"

He wanted to set up a wire

to correspond exactly to the

distance between the two towers.

And to practice on it

a much as he could.

Someone had spoken to him

about the elasticity of the building

and the fact that the wind could cause

the towers to sway.

So there was a moment

of great concern.

There was always and still is, this

'bad boy' side to Philippe's character.

He had a very strict upbringing.

And he would never have strayed

too far down that illegal road.

But he got great pleasure

from taking certain 'liberties'.

He's so excessive, so creative,

so each day

is like a work of art for him.

What excited him most

about this adventure

aside from being a beautiful show

was that it was like

a bank robbery.

And that pleased him enormously.

Gradually things began

to get more serious

because a proper plan

had to be worked out.

And then the arguments

between Jean-Louis and Philippe

really got started.

Ok, so we get through the main gate,

however we decide to do it.

The trick is going to be on the top

floor, coming out of the elevator.

It is better to be dressed

as office workers.

- No! As workers...

- Wait! Let me finish!

It was almost impossible

to imagine them

getting into the tower undetected.

They didn't even know

how they were going to get in.

And I think right from the start,

Jean-Louis felt

an enormous responsibility.

And he wouldn't let Philippe

have it his way,

perhaps because he felt

that Philippe wasn't being realistic.

No! We're being complete idiots.

Jean-Louis knew I sided with him

and Philippe also knew

I was taking Jean-Louis' side.

May 13th 197 4

Guy Tozzoli

President WTC Association

May 28th 197 4

The first attempt had failed.

He called me and asked me

to come over immediately.

Of course my role was

to support and encourage him.

It was always a matter

of trying to understand

what was going on in his head

and of encouraging him.

That was my job

and it was really exhausting.

He would spend the night

watching television.

He only ever watched

detective movies, bank robberies,

stories about cops and robbers.

I'm convinced he was getting

in shape with this.

He was looking for the strength,

so he could break into these towers.

So he went back, again and again,

to the World Trade Center,

to the main entrance hall.

And Philippe observed very carefully

how people went in,

showing their passes, etc.

David aka "Donald"

Rock Singer

Alan aka "Albert"

Quality Guy

I was really very worried.

The team included people

who were totally unreliable.

Jean-Louis reminded me

about Notre Dame,

said it would be

the same kind of thing,

the same adventure, but this time

in New York at the World Trade Center.

He didn't tell me much more,

just asked whether

I wanted to come or not.

When we arrived in New York

on the Boston train,

at one point we went past

the Empire State Building.

At that moment I looked up,

I saw the height

of the Empire State Building

and I was horrified.

My legs started to shake,

it was terrifying!

Especially when I realised the World

Trade Center was even higher.

I kept it all to myself,

but I was terrified.

When Jean-Louis came back,

the tension rose enormously.

It became unbearable.

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