If you want to pick a fight with somebody, triggering an argument about suicide is a good way to start things off. It's a complex, multifaceted issue that affected everyone you know, but that nobody wants to look at objectively, because it reopens wounds as we're desperately trying to carry on. It's why a lot of movies/novels about suicide turn out to be absolute crap. The premise of 2006 documentary THE BRIDGE was intriguing in that regards, because it's about about a place where people commit suicide, and the tragic stories that collide there, over the span of an entire year. The kicker is simple, yet utterly fascinating: that landscape is the Golden Gate bridge, one of the most iconic landmarks in America. THE BRIDGE might not change your views on suicide, but it's going to probe you in your darkest places.
There's a suicide problem on the Golden Gate bridge. I'm sure it's an issue most bridge in major cities are facing, but it's pretty bad in the Bay area. The filming crew of THE BRIDGE set two cameras on the Golden Gate for all of 2004 during daylight hours and gathered footage of a whopping twenty-four suicides. In the following year, director Eric Steele reached out to as many families as he could find, to try and piece back together the stories of these people. As you might'e expected, the exercise of listening to their testimonies while watching their respective loved one jump from the Golden Gate bridge is spectacular, overwhelming, grueling, unique and maybe a little redundant at times, due to the sheer number of interviewees.
Jumping to your death from one of the most iconic bridges in the world is a rather efficient way to die, but it's also quite romantic. There's a lot of steps to go through, like a ritual, and it never gets quite real until you're one step away from leaping to your death. One person who tried to help a jumper said his last words were: "It's a long way down to the water." I can't think of something more defeated to say, when contemplating the end of your own life. The Golden Gate, at least during the year THE BRIDGE was filmed, seem to have attracted an abnormal amount of tragically beautiful stories.
That leads us to the inevitable question (because the film is ultimately now about the jumpers, but people who survive them): how do you deal with someone (close to you or not) trying to end their own lives? There's no doubt some of them need professional help, but some of them don't, as frightening as it might be. Suicide is not a disease, it's just the world getting at some people in various ways. One case in particular showed a photographer pulling a girl that was about to jump without even speaking to her. He obviously did it because he didn't want to witness her death without doing anything, but in the end, witnessing her distress to have been saved leaves you wondering if his choice was beneficial to her.
This is the face you're doing to remember from THE BRIDGE.
THE BRIDGE is structured around this main case, which is slightly different and more memorable than the others due to its peculiar nature. Gene "Flower" Sprague jumped from the Golden Gate bridge on May 11th 2004, after fighting depression and alienation for several years. His friends and family discuss the various way they tried and helped him to cling to life, but truth was, his end was inevitable after the death of his mother, the only person who's happiness depended on him. It's heartbreaking to heart the testimonies of his friends while seeing him pacing back and forth on the bridge, trying to gather the courage to do it. I don't think I'm spoiling anything by saying Gene finally did it (he wouldn't be in this movie if he didn't), but the way he did it was so haunting in its gracefulness, it'll lead you to believe he was maybe just not for this world. The jump itself it available on YouTube if you're interested. It's not disgusting or anything, just incredibly sad and moving.
I've never seen a movie about suicide quite like THE BRIDGE. It doesn't try to shine a hopeful light on an issue and pretend it's something we can solve by being nicer to one another. It just documents what happened to the Golden Gate bridge in 2004 and explains how the jumpers made their way up there and did what they did. It's a courageous movie that I'm sure faced a shitload of criticism for not trying to make you feel any better. I thought there were too many testimonies, drawing away from the most powerful ones, but that bridge footage is some of the most intense, heartbreaking stuff I've ever watched and it makes it worth sitting through THE BRIDGE just to experience such powerful moments. Some real life-and-death decisions. There are no other movies like THE BRIDGE out there. It truly is something to experience.