I'm not sure he was as calm as he appeared...his voice was shaking a few times...also, he took all the time to write the notes but jumped while wearing his bathrobe......but I agree, it is really sad. He looks so young. He also hesitated once before jumping which makes me think he really wanted to live but didn't see any other way.
I keep reading this comment from so many people about landing head first. I seriously question if it's actually possible for the average person to control how they land. I suppose an Olympic diver who's used to landing in pools head first could do it, assuming that the terror of jumping to their death does't negatively impact their form.
I meant to comment back on this earlier. I absolutely love all kinds of movies, and just from a filming perspective it's incredible. The whole story behind making it is fascinating too, the filmmakers lied to get permission to make it because San Fran tries to hide how many actual #s of people jump. Then the people filming had the police on speed dial to report people looking suspicious. (I know as pro-choice people it's annoying, but in the real world it's really just being decent. Especially since you're capitalizing on the losses of others.) But those shots are real time, and unacted. The guy in black with the long black hair who just falls off backward a the end always makes me burst into tears or suck in air. Like somehow he'll change his mind. I do the same thing with "The Fire Within"- a 1960s French black and white "artsy" film where the guy kills himself. You start the film knowing he's going to, and I still jump at the end every time he actually pulls the trigger. Like he's going to see the bright side of life all of a sudden. If I could do my life over I would have been involved in movies somehow. And about a million other things.
I love all the shots of the bridge and the water and the mist. Hauntingly beautiful... I also love just how raw and honest the people are. And the guy with the black hair and leather jacket, his name is Gene Sprague and yes, heartbreaking. (I actually kind of have a bit of a crush on him...it is probably really creepy to have a crush on a dead person, but the way they tell his story is just so compelling.). I always wonder whether or not he heard that phone message about the job before he left for the bridge that day...
I think someone bumped this thread and I'm not one to post back and forth, but I have am immense respect for jumpers and how the hell they did it. I always post my cousin did it, and the whole family was in complete shock. He just stopped on a bridge and jumped the hell over. Like 20 years ago and the story was always he found out he had a gene for a degenerative disease that ran in his part of the family. Fast forward 20 years and good old mom is forgetting many of her lies. (Mark Twain said always be honest and you'll never have to remember anything,) and now I come to find out he battled severe depression. At a time when I did also due to bipolar. Gee, no one ever thought it might help for us to talk to each other about it. My family has hidden so many disgusting secrets I will go to my grave wondering if that was a big part of it.
