Documenting Death in The Bridge

In a time of live TV, webcams and picture messaging, society’s age of voyeurism is expansive. While the fascination of prying into the depths of human secrecy has its allure, sometimes the prospect of staring so intently into a stranger’s life seems unnecessarily invasive. This was how I felt about The Bridge, a documentary charged with paying tribute to the hundreds of souls who chose the grandiose arches of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge as the backdrop for their suicide.

Understandably, the purpose of a documentary film is to record events as they happen and then transport this knowledge to a larger audience. Though the genre is constantly evolving, typically these films attempt to enlighten viewers regarding a little known or intricately complex topic. However, in The Bridge, no such call to action existed. Instead, the audience simply watched stupefied as families poured their pain onto the screen to no evident avail.

The opening scene for this film is a jaw-dropping portrayal of a person who is enveloped among throngs of people. With effortless and ceaseless pacing, he breaks from the crowd, climbs over the gigantic gold railing and discretely dives off the cluttered walkway into the bay beneath. Business as usual, the people continue to mill about their daily lives, heading to and fro with such mindless determination that they almost fail to notice the suicide that occurred before their eyes.

In fact, this film features dozens of shots at varying distances displaying people walking along the bridge. Viewers watch, knowing some of these people will be shown slowly climbing over the edge and taking their last step off the orange trellis. This creates a feeling of constant anticipation and wonder as to why death is such a fascinating force when viewed through the intermediary of a television set.

According to this film, the Golden Gate Bridge is America’s number one suicide destination, leaving me to wonder how publicized this fact has become. Does the city of San Francisco manufacture “America’s #1 suicide destination” t-shirts on behalf of its thousands of suicide victims? This would seem, to me, just as tasteless as creating a film documenting such a death. Spending 93 minutes anticipating a real-life suicide seems like a morbid task to ask of any audience, especially without a clearly defined purpose. Yes, we all agree that suicide is sad, but why must we explore this reality in depth, almost romanticizing the scenic choice of suicide local? To what end is this film a means?

While the aim of a documentary generally tends to be relatively objective, it also needs to say something. Despite his many shortcomings as a documentary filmmaker, Michael Moore’s films at least lead a compelling argument that ends with a call to action. While he, too, has been accused of manipulating the audience’s emotions in order to achieve this call to action, his films simultaneously convey an urgent sense of purpose. Whether or not the viewer agrees with this message is inconsequential; it exists like an unshakable agitation. After watching Moore’s documentaries, most people feel the need to go out and do something, even if that something is an immediate and heartfelt protest of Moore’s work. The Bridge made no such impact.

There’s so much this movie fails to explore, like how a monument meant to ease life through opening transportation routes additionally allows a darker medium with which to traverse out of life. Instead, it becomes a story of people’s lost lives, and their families who continue to struggle with the tragedy of losing a loved one so publicly. As such, the documentary becomes an outlet for grievance, and a testament to nothing more. Despite all the emotion it provokes, this movie feels empty. This is a story about the sad lives of sad people and their shared method of escape. The bridge is almost personified as the aggravated therapist that allows each of them a way out of their pain.

At one point, an interviewee in the movie says, “The bridge has a false romantic promise.” Well, sir, so did this movie. So did this movie.

Tags: Documentary Film, Golden Gate Bridge, Michael Moore, Suicide