The Bridge Discussion (Not Review) - What Shall I Watch On Netflix?

The Bridge (2006)

Directed by Eric Steel

Produced by Eric Steel

I wanted to ensure that I dealt with this topic in the correct manner so took my time making and writing it.

In 2004, Eric Steel and his team went to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco every morning and watched the bridge. Any time they saw someone acting suspicious they filmed the person. The whole point of the film was to bring awareness to the fact that the Golden Gate Bridge is the second highest place in the world for suicides.

This film is actually the reason I started making reviews. I wanted to generate discussion on this film but none of my friends were willing to watch a film about suicide. But due to the nature of the film I didn't want to make it my first review until I had written a couple others.

I'm not actually writing a review, I'll instead be discussing how it was made.

There are a lot of rumours that surround this film. They appear where ever there is discussion on the morals. They appear on sites such as IMDB and Wikipedia and I am yet to see any evidence to contradict the rumours. The first one is the way that Steel gained permission to film the bridge every day for a whole year. Apparently he said the film was to be a "Day in the Life" style film showing the average day on the bridge; with tourists, commuters and people exercising. I have no problem with this lie seeing as the outcome of the film is that it brought more awareness to the situation of suicide on the bridge and if Steel said that was his intention from the beginning they probably wouldn't of granted him permission. Another reason for Steel lying about the purpose of the film was that he was worried that people would find out about the project and then jump, hoping to be recorded and included in the film.

The second rumour that surrounds the film is the fact that they didn't tell the families/friends of the deceased that they had footage of their loved ones killing themselves. The film is interspersed with footage of people talking about their relative or friend who had jumped off the bridge. They ususally have a story about how upset the person was at the time and all the different things they had wrong with their life that led to their final act. I'm not sure how I feel about this rumour. There is a quote from Steel where he says that everyone involved has seen the final film and are happy with it, but I can't help but wonder if they would have ever agreed in the first place if they had known that Steel had watched their friend die. Does the end justify the means? Steel presumably thinks so, but I imagine when the family's found out the truth they couldn't help but feel a bit hurt...

Also, there is a lady who is interviewed. Her sister had jumped. I found her interviews very awkward. I would hate to think that she was enjoying the attention she received after her sisters death but that is how she came across. She seemed to be trying to guarantee screen time by repeating everything her mother says and by interupting and disagreeing with her. Nothing she says adds to the discussion and yet she insists on doing it. I don't know, maybe she is just naturally really rude – but it came across like she was loving her attention.

The third rumour to surround the film is the fact that every time Steel and his team saw someone suspicious they phoned the police, and started to film them. Apparently the result of this was that they saved six people from jumping. That's great isn't it?! Well I find this one hard to believe actually. The main person that the film concentrates on is a man called Gene. Throughout the whole film there are clips of him walking up and down the bridge and there are interviews with a few of his friends. In one of these interviews it is revealed that he was there for 90 minutes. I'm not suggesting that Steel and his team were suspicious of him for the whole 90 minutes, but they certainly got a lot of footage of him. How is it that they claim to have phoned the police each time and yet Gene wasn't rescued?

My favourite interviews are with Kevin Hines. He attempted suicide from the bridge in 2000. He has an attitude that comes across as “I instantly realised that everything in my life that I'd thought was unfixable was totally fixable – except for having just jumped”. He talks a lot about his motivations for attempting suicide and then how his life changed after his attempt. Yes, he does attribute the fact he survived to being a message from God, which means he suffers a fair amount of ridicule on the internet, but at least he found meaning in his life. Part of his interview that really disturbed me was when he was talking about the run up to him jumping. He got a bus to the bridge and was bawling his eyes out the entire journey. He then stood on the bridge for 40 minutes, still crying and shaking and no-one spoke to him apart from one German lady who asked if he could take a photo for her. This was in effect, the final straw for Kevin – proof that no one cared about him.

Whatever you think about Steel's motives for making the film and the way in which he made it, I'm sure you can't deny the outcome of the film is that it has done a lot of good in highlighting the issue of suicide in a totally new and honest way.

I'm not going to give this film a mark out of ten, but instead I will just finish by saying that everyone should watch this film. I don't think you should watch it when depressed though, as it certainly wont help. Instead, watch it because Kevin's story and attitude will hopefully make people be more aware of the man stood next to them on a bus or bridge crying. It doesn't matter if someone is your best friend, or a stranger you have never seen before. If someone needs to talk to someone maybe you could be the starting point that makes all the difference.