The Bridge
Studio: Koch Lorber
WorkNameSort: Bridge, The
Director Eric Steel parked himself and a film crew on the Golden Gate Bridge for a year to make a documentary. Yet this documentary was not to be about the bridge, the bay or even the city; Steel wanted to document the numerous suicides that are attempted every year from the world-famous span. With cameras rolling nearly constantly, Steel saw every manner of attempt, and though he tried to convince every potential suicide not to make the jump, he wasn’t always successful. More than 20 people took their final plunge during the period that Steel was filming. Not surprisingly, the documentary that Steel emerged with is absolutely devastating, as the daily commuter monotony of the bridge is occasionally ‘ quietly ‘ disrupted by people who have reached the end of their emotional ropes. This footage is intertwined with interviews with survivors, family members of victims and various experts who attempt to make sense of it all, resulting in a profound and dark piece of work.
This article appears in Jun 13-19, 2007.