If you have ever seen “Free Solo” or “Man on Wire” and you suffer from acrophobia, this week’s column is not for you.
On the other hand, last week was such a horrific week for rooftops, I believe “Skywalkers: A Love Story” is practically heaven sent.
I caught Jeff Zimbalist’s new movie during the Nantucket Film Festival, where it was a centerpiece film. Honestly, I shuddered when I saw the movie poster image in the middle of the program:
Now that I live at sea level, I am not sure I still meet clinical criteria for acrophobia. But I felt I should see “Skywalkers: A Love Story” on the big screen while I had the chance.
Reader: My acrophobia came rushing right back as I squirmed in my seat, covered my eyes, and contorted my sweaty palms. See for yourself:
I don’t know where or when my fear of heights began. I earned my undergraduate degree in the nation’s capital without ever once stepping foot inside the Washington Monument. Likewise, I went to St. Louis for graduate work, but never ascended the Gateway Arch, either. Granted, getting to the top of those national park sites triggers my claustrophobia, too.
Zimbalist’s skywalkers start out “rooftopping,” a term unknown to me until I watched the film. Evidently, I am late to the party, since this practice has been going on for years. In all cases, rooftoppers and skywalkers qualify as Type T individuals: thrill-seekers.
According to cultural geographer and Type T personality Bradley Garrett, the reasons people are drawn to scaling skyscrapers and crane-dangling in the first place are multi-factorial.
The three main motivators behind Type T behavior are recognition (often in the form of internet stardom), political (often in the form of activism), and desire (often in the form of exploration). Again, news to me. I assumed rooftoppers were suicidal.
As Garrett also notes, this combination of factors is known by sociologists as “edgework,” or placing oneself needlessly in risky situations. Many of these scenarios involve death-defying stunts that go way beyond the kind we saw in “The Fall Guy.”
Of course, many rooftoppers have died as a direct result of their thrill-seeking, but Zimbalist’s film focuses on two specific people who share a passion for acrobatic maneuvers at terrifying heights. The director also distills a secondary tale from the primary plot: the love story between daredevils Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus.
The metaphor between skywalking and falling in love seems crazy to me, but it definitely makes for an intensely cinematic experience. The drone photography alone is insane. That you can watch this from the comfort of your own home starting this Friday on Netflix, well, I hope you see it the way I did: without a pause button.
