Far from being the exploitation of a lesser filmmaker, by recording the friends and families as they work through their thoughts and emotions, the film becomes an unusual act of compassion
Comment
11/01/06
The Bridge (2006)
67
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:55
Fresh:37
Rotten:18
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: Tactlessly morbid or remarkably sensitive? Deeply disturbing or viscerally fascinating? Critics are divided on Eric Steele’s unique documentary on the Golden Gate Bridge, wonder of the modern world and notorious suicide destination.
Theatrical Release:Oct 27, 2006 Limited
Box Office: $49,313
Synopsis: Shot over an entire year in 2004, THE BRIDGE is a startling documentary about San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and the people who go there to end their lives. Director Eric Steel and his crew... [More]
Director: Eric Steel
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Reviews for The Bridge
This is a shocking film, but in its own way a profoundly humane one.
10/25/06
Top CriticThe whole thing invokes the bodies falling from that other architectural icon on 9/11 – but it’s not clear what is achieved beyond disturbance.
02/14/07
There are harrowing moments: who could not be moved by a parent talking about a son’s suicide? But you do not leave the cinema with a better understanding of suicide.
02/19/07
You leave The Bridge with a new appreciation for your (relative) mental stability and a vow to make the most of your brief, ephemeral life.
10/27/06
This would be an uncomfortably voyeuristic experience if Steel weren't so careful not to exploit the material. It's an almost unbearably sad one instead.
11/16/06
despite the shocking, up-close look, we're no closer to a real understanding of the terrible urge to end it all.
02/16/07
Tales are dramatic; the interviewees poignant, and the images -- often following bodies all the way down to the water -- are startling and discomfiting.
05/09/07
Top CriticQuite eerie and haunting... but a rather morbid and depressing exercise.
10/24/06
This is one movie that's guaranteed to linger in your mind after you leave the theater, whether you want it to or not.
10/27/06
It de-romanticizes the idea of suicide by italicizing it in all its bleak, brutal reality, while making palpable the tortured predicament of those left behind.
10/26/06
Top CriticThese golden arches are the keepers of dark secrets.
10/11/06
The Bridge is brave and unflinching, unshakably haunting and deeply mysterious. I doubt I'll forget it until the day I die.
10/27/06
In his ghoulish documentary, director Eric Steel examines the Golden Gate's dubious honor as the world's most popular suicide destination.
10/24/06
Top CriticClick to read the article
07/14/07
Click to read the article
08/07/08
The results are striking: an emotional and aesthetic whirlpool of horror, fascination, beauty, and resignation that would probably drown lesser movies but that gives The Bridge an eerie power.
02/10/07
Two dozen souls, linked by suicide as a seductive, and very visible alternative to unrelenting torment and suffering.
05/04/07
The problem is knowing who's suicidal before it's too late, and that's a big part of what makes watching (director Eric) Steel's footage such a harrowing experience.
10/27/06
The Bridge is both a beautiful film and a disturbing one, and the connection between those two characteristics makes it the most disquieting of documentaries.
10/26/06
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