the bridge

i saw this documentary on friday night called the bridge. for a year in 2004, filmmaker eric steel camped out at the golden gate bridge in san fran and documented with several telephoto lenses, people committing and attempting to commit suicide. i found this to be a compelling examination of the subject and quite disturbing. to me what was most disturbing was the shock of watching people die right before your eyes, and then becoming adjusted to it, almost numb. it may seem that this could be very exploitative, but the subject matter was not handled that way. it was very real and honest. the footage of jumpers or attempting jumpers was cut together with family and friends talking about the jumper. this film was banned from several festivals, although after seeing this, i'm not sure why. perhaps the subject was too taboo, i'm not sure. here's a great interview with the director. one of the best moments of the film was an interview with a still photographer who happened to be shooting on the bridge when a jumper came up next to him and stepped over the rail and onto the ledge. he continued to shoot pictures for a while, until realizing what the jumper was about to do. he eventually ended up grabbing the person off the ledge and lifting them back on to the road. he talked about how when looking through a camera lens you sometimes forget that what you are seeing is really happening, that you become detached from your subject. The film inter cut interview footage with actual long lens shots of this happening and the still photos that the guy took. this made for an utterly compelling viewing experience. you get to here the tale told and see it happen at the same time. if you like to be challenged, watch this film.