Who needs a house of horrors when you can stride alongside Philippe Petit, high above the hustle & bustle of 1970s New York, on a death-defying tightrope walk that’ll make your palms sweat and your head spin? Well, Robert Zemeckis’ 2015 biographical drama, The Walk, led you on a cinematic tightrope where you may find your stomach doing somersaults.
In this vertiginous venture, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Philippe Petit, we were invited to tangibly tread, albeit vicariously, between the iconic Twin Towers, chasing the footsteps of the legendary French high-wire artist. Zemeckis didn’t just let you watch; he placed you on that slender cable in the air, conjuring realism through the big screen that neither Petit’s own memoir nor the gripping documentary could.
Viscerally, the director’s objective was accomplished; there were tidings of audience members experiencing nausea, anxiety, or even walking out during screenings.
The Walk: Exploring the Extremes of Robert Zemeckis’ Movie
Based on the true story of French daredevil Philippe Petit, who tightrope-walked between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974, Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk has viewers clinging to their armrests harder than many horror villains could ever grip their nerves.
The film plunged audiences into the dizzying heights of Manhattan’s Twin Towers, where Petit, portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, performed his death-defying tightrope act. Even seasoned film critics and industry insiders felt the vertigo-inducing effects, with some reporting feelings of queasiness, nervousness, and anxiety. Denise Widman, board director of the Boston Jewish Film Festival, told the New York Post:
I had to look away a couple of times because of the sensation of the height. I felt a little bit queasy. I felt nervous. It was a tingling sensation and some anxiety.
There were mass walkouts. Some even had to leave the theater to vomit, while others experienced symptoms of vertigo. Zemeckis used jaw-dropping visuals and vertigo-inducing effects to recreate Petit’s infamous stunt in ways that previous mediums, such as a memoir and a documentary, could not. The director wanted to immerse the audience in Petit’s high-wire act, putting them on the wire with him. As the Cast Away director, 72, put it (Vanity Fair):
The thing that neither the book nor the documentary could do was actually put the audience up on the wire with Philippe. We did. And that is what movies are all about.
The Walk isn’t the only film to leave audiences feeling woozy. Films like Jaws and The Blair Witch Project also used shaky cinematography to induce genuine nausea & claustrophobia.
Expert Analysis: What Medical Experts Say About The Walk
In the wake of the dizzying reports concerning The Walk, audiences marveled at how a simple movie experience can turn into a full-body adventure. Medical experts have shed light on this confounding phenomenon, revealing the intricacies of our inner ear as both the hero and the culprit.
Dr. Darius Kohan, an experienced ear surgeon, explained to CBS News how 3D technology can dupe our brains into a sensory high-wire act:
You have the illusion of motion while the body’s telling you that you’re not moving. So the result is it feels like something is poisoned, so the reaction is gastrointestinal. You feel nauseous, dizzy.
While The Walk may have revolutionized the concept of cinematic realism, some viewers saw it as a sobering reminder of their inner ear’s limitations. In addition to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the film also featured Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, James Badge Dale, Ben Schwartz, and Steve Valentine.
Regardless, if you have a fear of heights or a weak stomach, you may want to think twice before stepping onto this cinematic tightrope walk.
Still, The Walk is streaming on FuboTV.
