The Bridge

Saw The Bridge, a film about suicide by means of the Golden Gate Bridge which claims more lives, we are told, than any other place on earth. It's kind of a heavy film. We interview the surviving families of suicides and witnesses to their final moments. There are many stages of grief on display here. One woman accepts her son's death, saying that at least he's free from suffering now. A brother of one woman refuses to accept that her death was a suicide. "I don't know that she went on the bridge alone. I don't know that... maybe someone was encouraging her to jump." There is deep, difficult emotion on display here.

The film is for the most part beautiful. It treats all of the mourning friends and family with respect, but does not shy away from the reality of what we're discussing. Several picturesque shots of the bridge are interrupted by something suddenly but gently falling down from the bridge and into the water with a resounding splash. The film mercifully gives us a few poignant ideas to hang on to and to lift our minds up onto an intellectual level. These ideas are as follows:

• Below the bridge, seals frolic, people surf, and tourist-laden boats ferry about. Up above, people pace back and forth, trying to muster the power to jump into death but towards life.
• The image of the bridge reaching across the bay, disappearing into mist.
• There is also the frequent connection of birds with the soul.

This last idea is easiest for the filmmakers to use, being so close to water, but it's also the most effective. A bird dives into the water, single-minded and driven. A man falls from the bridge and a quartet of black birds rise into the sky. A woman on voice-over says "Maybe he just wanted to fly one time." Heavy, heavy, heavy, but very good. Unflinching, stark, compassionate, human. This is a rare and fine breed of documentary.