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Opening this Friday in select theaters is a controversial new documentary, The Bridge - a film showing 23 of the 24 suicides that took place at San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge in the year 2004. Director Eric Steel assembled a dedicated crew who set up a camera every day for a year and caught video of everyday people coolly stepping over the railing and jumping to their deaths. The footage is possessed of an eerie calm, a profound stillness, and is ultimately a stunning portrayal of some lonely souls' final seconds on Earth.

Not surprisingly, The Bridge has been drawing the fire of suicide prevention groups who see the film as glorifying the allure of this already alarmingly popular suicide site. Since the bridge's construction in 1937, over 1,300 suicides have taken place. One about every two weeks.

Steel has been accused of serving up suicide as entertainment, misleading the city about his project to gain filming access and callously using the lives of the jumpers for his own gain.

Steel says:

(the goal is to)
..."allow us to see into the most impenetrable corners of the human mind and challenge us to think and talk about suicide in profoundly different ways."

"It is a movie about the human spirit in crisis. It is a movie about people,"


The Bridge opens in select theaters Friday October 27th.
Hi Quality Quicktime Trailer

 

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hey_fukko

hey_fukko

Medford, OR
September 2003

OCT 24, 2006 11:00 AM

Margot_Dent said:

chef said:
is it legal to just film a suicide like that?




i figure as long as someone wasn't watching WHILE the people were offing themselves, there isn't much anyone could do about it.



If you look at the camera movements while someone's climbing over the rail, it does look like someone is simply watching and takeing video WHILE the people are preparing to jump.

If the trailer is any indication of what's in the film, I'm not too sure this glorifies suicide at all. In fact, I'm sure it may make people think twice about their options when facing a crisis and comtemplating suicide.

_lauren_

_lauren_

I'm lost
January 2003

OCT 24, 2006 11:05 AM

wow.
looks like it's filmed really well.
don't know if i'd watch it though.

SuzieFNSunshine

SuzieFNSunshine

Houston, TX
October 2006

OCT 24, 2006 11:29 AM

cmjfoxfyre said:
i didn't think that it was that Easy to jump off the bridge. especially after 9/11. wow. i'm oddly drawn and greatly disturbed. this reminds me of a crimescenes photo collection, of the 30's and 40's, that i keep seeing at the bookstore. skull



Don't suppose you know the name of the book? Right up my ally...

jinkblade

jinkblade

France
August 2004

OCT 24, 2006 11:35 AM

i SO want to see this in theatre, I doubt it'll make it to france though.
anyway the trailer is brilliant, eerie and beautiful. it's such a great idea, so strong and beautiful statement just to catch those moments.

SuzieFNSunshine

SuzieFNSunshine

Houston, TX
October 2006

OCT 24, 2006 11:36 AM

I sincerely doubt anyone was ever just in their car driving along the bridge and decided to stop and jump and end their life. This is a well-planned and thought out approach to suicide. That wouldn't make it okay to stand by and watch, but it might explain the lack of interference on the part of the production crew as these men and women contemplated on the bridge. I've never made the effort to drive to a bridge with the intention of jumping off to end my life, but I bet if I did it would mean that I was too far gone for a trite "someone somewhere needs you, you have so much to live for" (from a guy with a camera I've never seen before in my life) to matter much to me.

To me this is in much better taste than Faces of Death...those were accidental deaths of unassuming individuals turned into a cult classic for shock, horror, thrills and even twisted laughs.

I seriously doubt anyone who goes to see this film is looking to laugh (and if they are, shame on them). Hell, it might even make some people reconsider. You never know.

SirPsychoSexy

SirPsychoSexy

Ridgewood, NJ
January 2004

OCT 24, 2006 11:55 AM

SuzieFNSunshine said:
I sincerely doubt anyone was ever just in their car driving along the bridge and decided to stop and jump and end their life. This is a well-planned and thought out approach to suicide. That wouldn't make it okay to stand by and watch, but it might explain the lack of interference on the part of the production crew as these men and women contemplated on the bridge. I've never made the effort to drive to a bridge with the intention of jumping off to end my life, but I bet if I did it would mean that I was too far gone for a trite "someone somewhere needs you, you have so much to live for" (from a guy with a camera I've never seen before in my life) to matter much to me.

To me this is in much better taste than Faces of Death...those were accidental deaths of unassuming individuals turned into a cult classic for shock, horror, thrills and even twisted laughs.

I seriously doubt anyone who goes to see this film is looking to laugh (and if they are, shame on them). Hell, it might even make some people reconsider. You never know.



From what I heard, plenty of the cases were people pacing back and forth or just staring out over the water and then all of a sudden decided to climb over the railing and immediately jump. Maybe if you are really going to do it you don't crawl over the railing and stand there making a big spectacle like in the movies.
Its kind of hard to call the cops on every person on a bridge who paces back and forth, or stops to look out over the water...

Flux

Flux

SUICIDEGIRL

North Carolina, USA

OCT 24, 2006 12:03 PM

SuzieFNSunshine said:

cmjfoxfyre said:
i didn't think that it was that Easy to jump off the bridge. especially after 9/11. wow. i'm oddly drawn and greatly disturbed. this reminds me of a crimescenes photo collection, of the 30's and 40's, that i keep seeing at the bookstore. skull



Don't suppose you know the name of the book? Right up my ally...



It sounds like Death Scenes.

_kungfoo_

_kungfoo_

Los Angeles, CA
April 2005

OCT 24, 2006 12:05 PM


Not surprisingly, The Bridge has been drawing the fire of suicide prevention groups who see the film as glorifying the allure of this already alarmingly popular suicide site.



Should this not be explored then? Should we just cover our eyes and pretend this doesn't happen?

RumpusParable

RumpusParable

Augusta, GA
April 2003

OCT 24, 2006 12:14 PM

when we decide to go, we go. it looks like this film handled the subject well and tastefully, i'd very much like to see it.

Flux

Flux

SUICIDEGIRL

North Carolina, USA

OCT 24, 2006 12:15 PM

KUNGFOO said:


Not surprisingly, The Bridge has been drawing the fire of suicide prevention groups who see the film as glorifying the allure of this already alarmingly popular suicide site.



Should this not be explored then? Should we just cover our eyes and pretend this doesn't happen?



Or, as my comment on Seneca intended, is it possible to examine self-termination without condemnation, lamentation, or glorification?

GarageDelFuego

GarageDelFuego

Los Angeles, CA
December 2003

OCT 24, 2006 12:36 PM

Flux said:
I wonder what Seneca would think.



I'm sure he would be thankful for the bridge, poor Seneca.

Targeted

Targeted

Willsboro, NY
June 2006

OCT 24, 2006 12:46 PM

SirPsychoSexy said:
I heard it will be on IFC in a few months for anyone who can't catch it in the theaters.



That's good for those of us here in BFE Tucson.

GarageDelFuego

GarageDelFuego

Los Angeles, CA
December 2003

OCT 24, 2006 12:48 PM

Though the film may be a little exploitative, I think it's something everyone should look at. People always want to hide from and ignore the darker places in our human existence. Suicide is an everyday event and many people here have tried it. I think to know yourself and this world; you can't avoid the painful dark places. I'm glad someone made this and without the "faces of death" kind of spin on it. The trailer made it seem quite moving. I wish there was more work done in these realms and made available for public consumption.

Targeted

Targeted

Willsboro, NY
June 2006

OCT 24, 2006 12:52 PM

Flux said:

KUNGFOO said:


Not surprisingly, The Bridge has been drawing the fire of suicide prevention groups who see the film as glorifying the allure of this already alarmingly popular suicide site.



Should this not be explored then? Should we just cover our eyes and pretend this doesn't happen?



Or, as my comment on Seneca intended, is it possible to examine self-termination without condemnation, lamentation, or glorification?



I hope it is. Too many people refuse to even speak of suicide, let alone try to even discuss it. I'm sad to say that the movie probably wont be the pure motivation for discuddion it should, and will change into the hugely overblown event that always goes along with controversial films like this. I'm still looking forward to seeing it.

rdpixie

rdpixie

United Kingdom
January 2006

OCT 24, 2006 01:59 PM

I feel compelled to see this. I agree with whats been said here and I do feel in ways its wrong but still I really want to see it.

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