In 1974, Philippe Petit did something preposterous: he put a tightrope up between the two towers of the World Trade Center and walked across it for several minutes. This death-defying stunt staggered the minds and imaginations of people around the world. In director James Marsh’s 2008 documentary “Man on Wire,” Petit offers insight into what compelled him to do this feat and how he pulled off the impossible.

Happily, Petit and his psyche remain appropriately enigmatic throughout the film. This man is like someone from another dimension, which is part of his appeal, and undercutting that with total 100% logic to all of his behavior would be a tragedy. Instead, “Man on Wire” allows viewers to live inside the headspace of an idiosyncratic individual and hear interviews with countless people who recount the tale of how this improbable stunt got executed. If you only know Petit’s story through secondhand accounts or the Robert Zemeckis film “The Walk,” it’s time to change that by absorbing everything “Man on Wire” has to offer.