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Review #399 of 365
Movie Review of The Bridge (2006) [R] 93 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $13.50
Where Viewed: Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 15 February 2007
Time: 8:10 p.m.
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
Important Links:
• National Suicide Prevention Line
• Suicide Awareness Voices of Education
DVD Release Date: unscheduled
Review Dedicated to: Those who bravely help those who've lost their way find their way.
Directed by: Eric Steel
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Inspired by a newspaper article revealing the Golden Gate Bridge as the most popular place in the world for people to commit suicide, film producer Eric Steel was moved to make a film that would help him understand this statistic and, more importantly, permit candid discussion of the long-taboo subject throughout many cultures worldwide. He secured filming permits and a camera crew with the idea of filming the bridge from sun up to sun down, every day, for a year. There would be two cameras, one wide angle and one that would be focused on bridge crossers who seemed to fit the archetype of a jumper. In all, there were 20 jumpers in 2004, the year of filming, not all were caught on tape. The crew had the Bridge Patrol on speed dial, and they intended to save as many people as possible. Hundreds of hours of footage was also filmed in interviews with family members and other people on the bridge at the time of the jumps. Even some of the survivors were interviewed. After the editing was complete, the resulting film, first shown at the Tribeca Film Festival, revealing a haunting, mesmerizing, window into the allure of the bridge as the public site for a very private deed. With more people dying each year in the USA from suicide than homicide, why is it that we cannot bring ourselves to discuss this topic? Why is it we do not do more to understand it and to, at least, provide every person with a means to find a way out of the mental conclusions that lead them to make the decision to end his or her own life? Understanding the public display aspect of these suicides also turns out to be an interesting aspect of the film for most people do not choose a public site. They choose bedrooms, dorm rooms, closets, etc. places away from the public eye. Do these who choose the bridge hope that someone, anyone will try to stop them, to talk them back in off the rail, to prove that they are not invisible, that if no one else, at least a stranger cared about their existence enough to try and stop them? The great strength of the film is that it neither judges the jumpers nor their families. It is a visual documentary that just lenses the events and leaves judgment, if it is even called for, up to the audience.
"… incredibly powerful … a haunting, mesmerizing, window into the allure of the bridge …"
The powerful and compelling images of what is claimed to be the world's most photographed, human-made construction, with billowy fog clouds and shimmering dark waters below, make for an appealing site where the contrasting forces of humans, nature, and human nature blend mysteriously. Standing over 750 feet tall and 250 above the water, jumps from the bridge are nearly always fatal. Nearly, we learn, as some do survive. One young man in the film, in fact, does survive. Unlike those who do not, there is no way to know if there were moments of regret once the decision to take the plunge has been made. This young man, however, after having been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, bouts of anger with his family, etc., decided to end his life by jumping off the bridge. He describes in a segment of the film that proves to be incredibly powerful, his trip to the bridge and his decision to jump and subsequent seconds of regret and decision to try to save himself by reorienting himself to splash in feet first. He survived with the shattering of two vertebrae, the fragments of which penetrated other organs in his body but not his heart. Does every person that jumps regret the decision once it is made and then too late, but not figure out how to retract it? Of course, that is a question that can never be answered. What must be mentioned, however, is that many researchers into the causes and motives for suicide note that mental illness and/or depression off play a role in attempts. As a culture, we have never chosen to accept mental illnesses. Mostly, we do our best to ignore it, to pretend it doesn't exist. We make light of the term 'crazy'; we know, but fail to do much, that many of the nation's homeless are mentally ill people, we prefer the idea that the mentally ill will get help or be locked up somewhere displacing responsibility on anyone who will take it. Even though the medical profession has made enormous advancements in the field in the past 40 years, we still prefer to distance ourselves from the information that could make a difference. The tragedy simmers untouchable. "We don't talk about that." And yet, it is nearly impossible to take one's eyes off the screen once this film starts rolling. Like gawkers at a traffic accident or a fire, watching these people climb up and jump over the railing plummeting for 4 seconds to smack into icy cold waters below, captures one's attention if not outrage—yet it is impossible to explain the feelings that flood the mind.
"… a one of the most chilling looks into the very real and very sad aspects of our species ever made …"
The interviews with the family members and the friends of the loved ones reveals a remarkable notion that they often knew of the possibility for the suicide, but few mentioned keying in on these signs and seeking to get the person help. Those that tried to be a good friend and to be there for the person often expressed feelings of regret and anger. Do the people that commit suicide reconcile the subsequent fall out from their action and justify it some how, or do they honestly believe no one will care or notice? Again, more questions that cannot be answered. Eric Steel has filmed one of the most chilling looks into the very real and very sad aspects of our species ever made. It not only raises awareness of suicide as a nationally significant issue without religious overtones but opens up the debate as to how we deal with the mentally ill as well. Though illegal and mostly religiously immoral to kill oneself, neither is a particularly compelling reason not to do it. Moreover, neither platitude serves as much of a deterrent, obviously. Perhaps then, the take home lesson from the film is that if we wish to do something about this, rather than building barriers onto the Golden Gate Bridge at an estimated cost of $25 million, we work to lift the taboo of talking about the issues of mental health and suicide in our culture and turn the focus toward prevention and support. It is, perhaps, easier, cleaner, and less painful to ignore the problem in the short term; but, in the long run, how can we live with a society that turns its back on those most in need?
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
The Bridge (2006) Review-lite [150-word cap]
Inspired by an article revealing the Golden Gate Bridge as the most popular place for people to commit suicide, film producer Eric Steel was moved to make a film that would help him understand this and, more importantly, permit candid discussion of the long-taboo subject throughout many cultures worldwide. After the editing was complete, the resulting film revealed a haunting, mesmerizing, window into the allure of the bridge as the public site for a very private deed. The great strength of the film is that it does neither judges the jumpers nor their families. It is a visual documentary that just lenses the events and leaves judgment, if it is even called for, up to the audience. Steel has filmed one of the most chilling looks into the very real and very sad aspects of our species ever made. It not only raises awareness of suicide as a nationally significant issue but opens up the debate as to how we deal with the mentally ill as well.
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