The Bridge is a documentary film that is thought provoking but also at the same time slightly morbid. It centres around of course the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and all of the suicides that take place there every year, it also alongside that shows how the deaths of certain people who jumped have affected the families and friends of their loved one's. The people behind this I feel do not want to make it look so much like "Why didn't you stop them from jumping?" (the crew placed cameras around the bridge filming all suicides that were witnessed) but somehow and especially with the last suicide we see, you do feel that.Eric Steel is the man behind this all and although it never feels quite like some horrible documentary that doesn't respect the dead, it can at times as mentioned feel just a little like we are just watching people die (which we are). One thing I think this does get right is the way in which it really captures the emotion the families are going through and never just focuses constantly on the death of someone; it is pretty depressing at times but some of the reactions of the family are one's of acceptance, they have accepted the fact that their loved one wanted to die and although I can't say are at peace, they understand why it happened.It's not a watch I can really recommend on an interesting level, to be fair it does fill time a lot with random shots of the fog on the bridge and just of random little things, nice to see yes but really just all time filler. I feel if the documentary had brought up points about the safety of the bridge and why no things up to that point had been done to stop people from jumping then this would have had a bit more depth but in the end it feels just a little disjointed and although thought provoking, never brings a point up. It could be said also though that the whole thing brings the point up which is true but also it fails to address that the jumping's are preventable and that people have put work in trying to get it to happen one day soon in the near future.Really overall the film is one that is watchable and although many may watch this in a way that shocks them, it fast becomes the norm in this to see a little splash far off in the bay which is really not a good thing at all. I will say though that I think people should watch this, it not only goes to serve as a piece that makes you think about things but also shows that life really can be that tough on some so that what some people think is well unthinkable, it is a thing that can happen and does happen, The Golden Gate Bridge is just one of those places where it happens.

Honestly, you would feel sick after watching those poor individuals jump to their deaths and see how their grieving families have nothing but praise for their loved ones. I kept trying to find out answers in my head on why these people have chosen the Golden Gate Bridge? I'm guessing they probably just use that bridge because of how many feet it was from the bridge to the river. I mean, it is after all 4,200 feet!It just breaks me heart to think these people have ended their lives so suddenly. I know life isn't hunky dory but at the same time, it would've been 10 times better to talk to someone. Unfortunately they had went to the most devastating route that any other human being could experience of being in especially their families. If you ever feel suicidal, please please for your own sake, get help from someone because there is support waiting to hear from you ♡

I was drawn to this film as it looked an interesting topic and whilst it had it's moments, I found it a strangely shallow and at times tedious documentary. I had expected to find out a bit more about the history of the bridge and it's relationship with suicide attempts. Instead it is just a few stories of survivors and the families of victims. Some of these are moderately interesting and some of them aren't. I found the lack of a narrator to be a major flaw with this film. It was really crying out for someone to narrate it and pull it all together instead it's just random clips jumbled together in no order. There are also too many shots of the bridge with music playing which just seems to be time-filling. This isn't a documentary I enjoyed which is disappointing as I was expecting to like it. There is some dramatic footage but this is not enough to cover the flaws with the film.

As of this writing, the Golden Gate Bridge continues to celebrate its birthday year after year. Open on May 27, 1937, the bridge located at the mouth of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean serves as a gateway for many Bay Area people to connect each other, by driving on its structure. The bridge links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to Marin County. The San Francisco landmark is also famous for being the number 1 spot in the world where people commit suicide by jumping to their deaths from its walkways. Throughout its history, the bridge has averaged about 19 jumpers per year. It's already have pass the 2,000 people mark. That's a dangerous alarming fact that proves that something need to be done to prevent these acts to happen. Here is another fact, the movie came out in 2006, yet San Francisco hasn't yet put up a barrier. While not guaranteed to eliminate all suicides, physical barriers are said to be generally effective in significantly decreasing attempts at any given location. Interestingly, in his original plans for the bridge, architect Joseph Strauss designed the railings to be nearly six feet tall as a way to discourage jumpers. By the time the bridge was finally constructed, the railings were lowered to a mere four feet and, as we know, many suicides have followed after that. In the film, 2004 was one of the largest suicide year that the Golden Gate Bridge have ever saw and Rookie documentation Eric Steel film most of the jumpers. He film every daylight minute of 2004 using multiple digital cameras, before editing detailed footage of jumpers with interview footage of family members and friends of the deceased explaining why they might have killed themselves. The movie score is chilling, and only by that, it makes his film look like a tribute honoring the dead 'art' film documentary rather than a modern day snuff film. I love the film seek answers to the suicide rather than saying they coward way out. Suicide is not always based on outside circumstances. You have the some of the most financially stable, well off people in the world who are depressed. It is mental and unless you went through severe depression, it is easy for you to call people cowards. Going through mental issues/illness takes a lot of courage and some people do not make it, just like any other illness. Sadly, I still have to agree that it's still a snuff film that exploitation actual suicides for dramatic tension, attention-getting money grabbing release for people to buy to watch real people die on film. Steel never once question why Golden Gate Bridge wasn't equipped with suicide barriers, nor does he deal with San Francisco's political disregard to stopping them. This was sadly needed. At less, Steel got a survivor in for an interview but rather than focus on his life turn around, the movie just focus on his attempt at death. Steel did alert authorities whenever unusual behavior became apparent, if the person being film might jump. Still, he might have didn't intervene as much as he says he did, because the film has so perfect good shots of the jumpers jumping into the bay. For a quick fall of four seconds, jumpers hit the water at around 75 mph or about 120 km/h. Most jumpers die from impact trauma. The few who survive the initial impact generally drown or die of hypothermia in the cold water. He has some pretty amazing shots of it, for an action that happen so quick. He's clearly been eyeing them for a while, why couldn't he save more people than he did. Did he allow people to die for a good death footage? It's a moral debate when the audience watch the film. The last jump is the most disturbing. It clear that they been tracking him, but did absolutely nothing to save him, then after he supplied them with the money shot death, they tracked down his friends, and got them on film. Worse, Steel shows so many jumps over the course of the movie that we run the risk of becoming desensitized to actual death. When the cameras linger on pedestrians, it begs us to ask which one will become the jumper. It's a sick game that makes you think that everybody is suicidal. The film was inspired by an article in the New Yorker magazine, and there's an undeniable power in the accretion of detail and insight into what motivates suicides, but it doesn't help the living knowing that their love ones death hasn't prevent any future deaths since then. That's pretty despicable.