The Bridge

An expectedly sober documentary which chronicles the unsettling allure of the Golden Gate Bridge as a popular suicide destination. It's sad but not mopey, interspersing long, lingering frames of the bridge in various weather conditions (often punctuated by a sudden, jarring splash beneath the span) with reflections upon the various jumpers' troubled lives by friends and family members. In a way it's heartening that so many of the subjects are calm, collected and rational about the event, having properly worked their way through the various stages of grief and come out the other side. They're changed, but they're also intact. Footage of the jumps themselves, collected through a year-long observation via telephoto lens, offer a vivid glimpse into these poor souls' most private moments. They vary from startling to heartbreaking, and often border on the voyeuristic. In one sense, it feels improper to share that intimate second of climactic decision with strangers, but in another it lends their stories a sense of magnitude. These aren't just names in a list, faceless stories without a tether to our own reality. They're distinct individuals, emotively struggling to cope with something that's too large for their own conscience. As we hear the tales that led to such dark pits of despair, we see them quite physically grapple with that maddening choice. It's some of the most inarguably real footage I've ever seen on film, but I guess the greatest question here is; how real is too real?