94 minute running time so the perfect length. This was a disturbing documentary, and I sort of regret watching it. The filmmaker set up long-distance cameras trained on the Golden Gate Bridge and captured at least half a dozen jumpers from the bridge. All of those suicides are played back as they happened in real-time. He also captured film of several people who attempted to jump, but were talked off or pulled to safety. 24 people killed themselves by jumping off the bridge in 2004.

I guess after a jump (or attempted jump) he would race to the scene and find people who had witnessed it and get their names and interview them later. The movie was built around several particular jumpers whose backstory could be told in more detail by interviewing family and friends (all of the jumpers suffered from mental illness).

He also interviewed one young man who actually survived jumping off the bridge … apparently a seal kept him afloat until he could be rescued, he had a broken back of course.

Anyway, it was all pretty disturbing and I wondered about the ethics of the filmmaker. Seems sort of exploitative to me, but at the same time, I get why he made it. (I see others had the same concern.) This is NOT a movie for the faint of heart — the footage of people jumping is something you will never forget, so be warned. Thanks to John Farr for the recommendation.

(Ooooph, there’s even more damning stuff revealed in this piece: “Steel hid his intentions from both the families of the deceased and bridge authorities. Rather than be forthcoming about the real intentions of his undertaking, he told the Golden Gate National Recreation Area that he hoped to “capture the powerful, spectacular intersection of monument and nature that takes place everyday at the Golden Gate Bridge.” More despicable was his deception of the victims’ families. While interviewing, he never made it known that he had footage of their loved ones jumping to their doom.”)