The Bridge, Dir Eric Steel, USA 2005, 91 mins
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The Bridge
An intimate examination of the lives of those people who chose to end their lives by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge in 2004. "deeply moving and disturbing" Time Out
Dir Eric Steel, USA 2005, 91 mins
"Tales are dramatic; the interviewees poignant, and the images are startling and discomfiting. Yet The Bridge is quite beautifully put together... at times achieving a melancholy poetry." Variety
"extremely poignant and sensitively handled... Carefully shot to present The Bridge in all its varying moods, Steel shows its architectural splendour and tourist appeal, whilst simultaneously conveying its haunting, compelling presence to hint at a darker side." Vertigo
Unflinching and inevitably controversial, The Bridge explores the darker depths of human nature and the human psyche, in an intimate examination of the lives of those people who chose to end their lives by jumping from the mythic Golden Gate Bridge in 2004. Exploring at the most personal and revealing levels what drove them to this most final of decisions, The Bridge is certain to reignite the issues of the suicide barrier at the Golden Gate Bridge and to open a much needed debate on mental health care and suicide prevention.
In the USA today, suicide is far more common than homicide, with someone taking their own life every eighteen minutes, and the Golden Gate Bridge confirmed as the most popular suicide destination in the world. Inspired by an article written by Tad Friend, staff writer at the New Yorker, entitled 'The Fatal Grandeur of the Golden Gate Bridge', Eric Steel's film encapsulates the combination of suffering and the search for release of those desperate enough to find themselves on the precipice of The Bridge in 2004.
The Bridge represents a directorial and documentary debut for Eric Steel who also produced the film. He says: "It is a great honour that The Bridge will be released and broadcast in the UK. From the very start I had hoped that The Bridge would open a dialogue about suicide and mental illness and advance the call for suicide prevention wherever it was needed - not only at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, where the film was shot, and not only in the US, where there are nearly twice as many suicides as homicides every year."
Festivals
London Film Festival, 2006
International In-Competition, BritDoc 06
San Francisco International Film Festival, 2006
Documentary Competition, Tribeca Film Festival, 2006