E nte r ta i nment
22
Groundbreaking film ‘The Walk’ captivates viewers
DIEGO FERNANDEZ
Movie Critic/Staff Reporter IMAX theatrical releases are seeing an increase in popularity. With more and more low-budget independent films being produced, released and seen, there is more competition for big-budget Hollywood films. Many filmmakers have poured investments in converting their movies into IMAX format. Recently, “The Walk” was released in IMAX format and is a biopic based off of French highwire walker Philippe Petit’s book “To Reach The Clouds.” The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Philippe Petit, with Annie Allix, Ben Kingsley, and Steve Valentine in supporting roles. Robert Zemeckis, the man responsible for “Forrest Gump”, the “Back to the Future” Trilogy, “Flight” and “Cast Away,” directed the film. “The Walk” certainly adds more praise to the director’s résumé. One of Zemeckis’ strengths is being able to make a film character-driven, which means that he is able to direct plots that develop parallel to their characters. This
is a huge advantage when it comes to directing a biographical movie. Joseph Gordon-Levitt delivers a performance that is among his most persuasive. Levitt reportedly learned to speak fluent French for the role. He took high-wire walking lessons from none other than Philippe Petit himself. The content of the film was definitely breath-taking. The film presents Petits’ start as a wire-walker and how he pulled off his famous wire-walk between New York’s Twin Towers in 1974. The entire film works up to a climactic scene of Philippe Petit walking on a wire between New York’s historic Twin Towers. In that scene, the audience is in Petit’s head and is immersed in his narration. The audience gets the sensation that they are in the presence of a man who has visited the moon or, better yet, what Petit calls “the void.” If there ever were a movie that had viewers at the edge of their seat, it’s this one. Every aspect of the film does the true story justice. The city of New York and the Twin Towers feel like characters. When Philippe is up on the
wire, you can feel the back-and-forth between him and the towers. The audience can smell the air coming off the Atlantic. Every time a cloud passes by, the enormity of stories scale and the heights which Philippe had chosen to face head on make themselves apparent. The visuals are no doubt a stunning tour-de-fource of computer imaging, unique only to movies with height-related plots such as Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 film “Vertigo.” Although the film had a big budget of $35,000,000, it only premiered on 448 screens across U.S. As a result the film only grossed $6,430,676. This, however, doesn’t take away from the movie’s grandiosity considering the story it depicts is true. “The Walk” is a testament to what human beings are capable of in chasing their dreams. As grounding as the story the film is based off of, “The Walk” brings forth an example of when a man achieved the impossible and in doing so, reestablished what it means to be a person with a dream to chase.
ENCORE! creates new take on classic fairy tale ERIN BARNES
Staff Reporter GCHS theatre company ENCORE! is set to present a twist on an old classic in performing “Cinderella.” Taking the script from the 2013 Broadway version of “Cinderella,” director Maureen Ritter is excited for the upcoming show, “The fairy tale elements are there, but this is a brand new version of it and I’m actually really excited because it is so different,” Ritter said. “I feel really good about little girls leaving this show and feeling like Cinderella is a strong girl.” With only three returning seniors the cast has a lot to live up to, having lost nearly 20 senior actors from last year. “We’re managing a really large comNovember 4, 2015
pany so there are like 38 people in the show which is twice the amount in a play,” Ritter said. “It’s kind of just like fitting all the different components together in a way that makes sense and puts on a good show.” This is the first time in ten years that ENCORE! has done a musical without combining with actors from North, but Ritter says that they are doing a great job in spite of that. “This cast and crew in particular are really encouraging and supportive of each other,” Ritter said. The entire show is updated, including the characters, are updated. Cinderella, who is now Ella, “is really different; she’s a really strong female,” Ritter said. “She’s much more of a per-
son and less of a princess. She’s funny, kind of sassy, a little bit sarcastic and very much an individual.” Prince Charming, whose name is now Topher, played by senior Jeremy Feger, also takes a dramatic change in personality. “What I like about Topher is that he’s not your ordinary Prince Charming,” Feger said. “He’s not some pretty boy. He has his own objectives in the show other than falling in love.” Taking on his first lead in a high school show, Feger is excited with the whole mixture of the dancing, singing and acting. Overall, ENCORE! is very excited to show the community a much more relatable version of “Cinderella,” sure to leave you feeling empowered.