Philippe Petit and James Marsh: Men on Wire

MARSH: In a sense, the idea for Michael’s music came from Philippe, who plays Michael’s work “Requiem,” from his score for Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, during practice sessions in his backyard. Michael’s work has a dancing aspect to it as well that I felt matched the dance of the high-wire act, even a galloping effect.

Philippe, there are some who might think you get kicks out of taking a lot of risk. What’s your perspective on risk?

Kevin Scanlon

Petit, front and center

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More About

• Philippe Petit
• James Marsh
• Werner Herzog
• Michael Nyman
• Kevin Scanlon

PETIT: I’m not interested in risking my life. I’m not interested in presenting the spectacle of a dare. But I’m constantly misunderstood and yet I don’t care, because I never tempt the fates and I don’t take outrageous risks. I would never walk out on the rope, trying to tempt death. I want to grow to be really old. I worship life. Therefore, I rehearse for thousands of hours to put myself into a state of serenity on the tightrope.

 
I don’t mean risk as a death wish. I mean, in the context of anything that’s ever been achieved, looking honestly at risk.

PETIT: Ah, so if you mean the risk of exploring other worlds, of opening the door into the unknown, in that case, I don’t think you’ve lived until you’ve taken such risk. Now, if you cross a big boulevard in Los Angeles without looking left and right, then you’re an imbecile. But it’s essential that we take risk in order to venture and open up new possibilities and new worlds. This is what I live for; it’s something that gets me going and keeps me alive.

MARSH: It’s the risk of the imagination, that’s what you mean.

Exactly. It’s part of what unites art, science, enterprise, performance.

PETIT: [It’s] the risk of living fully, and really, if you’re not thinking about living, then you are a zombie. Against this is the current drive to make things excessively safe. You see this all around us now with things like little kids riding their bikes, wearing big helmets and kneepads and who knows what else. But what happens to the kid who falls off his bike and bleeds a bit and learns from his fall? Normal risk must be taught and ingrained in everyone.