updated 11/05/2006
Hey, babies, Phyllis Stein here to give you the straight skinny on what sucks and what doesn't. I hereby pledge to never use phrases such as "hauntingly luminous","important work of staggering genius"or "the most important novel/movie/oevre/carwash/platypus of the age".
Ok, now. Brand new review.
"The Bridge" by Brett Hanover.
**spoiler alert** a lot of the plot is disclosed below, so if you're one of those people who hate to hear much about the movie before you get to see it better watch it first...**
The movie is about a young woman named Dianne who wants to continue her studies in the Church of Scientology (hereafter to be abbreviated as "CofS").
In CofS, that is called "going up the bridge"-hence the title of the film.
The movie shows Dianne receiving Scientology counselling (which they call "auditing"). While Mr. Hanover gets a lot of things right in this movie, he screws up here. He shows Dianne's auditor snapping at her, cutting her off and interrupting her. (Now, we in Philistine-land know that's inaccurate since our friend Fluffy has given many an auditor terminal cases of writer's cramp with nary a complaint from any of them.)
They also show the ED in a training drill with another staff member and this is represented as "being in session". This was also inaccurate.
Also, Dianne's motivation for going up the bridge is never revealed. She never says anything about wanting to feel this way or that or attaining this or that power or state or ability. Nothing. No, she just wants to go up the bridge for reasons known only to herself.
She gets talked into working at the local Scientology "org" in Memphis by the "ED" (executive director) - a Uriah Heepish character devoid of sense, compassion, judgment or decency. We found this characterization to be well acted and all too accurate.
Oddly enough, the "org" has very few other people in it, even though it is roughly the size of Buckingham Palace, give or take.
While all this is going on, a worried father is trying to contact his daughter- another young Scientology staffer named Amy Grey,whose mother evidently got her into Scientology and who is a staff member at the Fort Harrison down in Clearwater, FL. No one will let the father talk to Amy. She's listed in the church's computer system as being "PTS" (Potential Trouble Source) to him, and "disconnected" from him. (a type of shunning done in CofS. Often enforced and/or coerced.) When he comes to the Memphis Org looking for answers, Dianne is kind to him and gives him a pink piece of paper from Amy's old files in Memphis- the only color seen in this otherwise black and white film. Viewers never see what is on the pink paper.
Amy, tragically, jumps to her death and dies. The Church then spends a great deal of time trying to do damage control and they never show one iota of love, remorse or worry. In fact, they tell Amy's dad that her wishes were that he not attend the funeral and they even have her Mom tell him the same thing. This is, sadly, a very likely portrayal of how CofS behaves whenever there's any untimely death or other wrongdoing there. Their insensitive treatment of bereaved family members and those who no longer wish to be there is the rule there and there rarely are exceptions.
Since Amy's dad has come back to the org and given Dianne all Amy's old Scientology materials, Dianne listens to them. The film shows her listening to a Hubbard tape and frowning, looking utterly disillusioned. This could well happen, but Mr. Hanover's choice of tape for this was ludicrous. The tape played in the movie was one about people not being "in session" (for counselling) if they are distracted. That's not exactly the space alien stuff, boyz n'galz!
But fortunately for our heroine, other seeds have been planted. Dianne has been told about xenu.net and has encountered protestors. This was well portrayed also, as the film showed one haranguing jerk who seemed to think that screaming at people would win them over and a milder mannered fellow who thought that maybe explaining things to uninformed staff members might be a more sensible approach. (Ya think?)
So Dianne makes the right choice and everyone lives happily ever after- except Amy and her Dad, of course.
Despite my nitpicking, I am giving this movie a thumbs up and a recommendation because it is well acted and is accurate in ways that matter- such as the portrayal of CofS' attitudes and actions toward families. This is the crux of the movie and Brett Hanover does not miss the boat there.
Here's where you can see it:
http://www.scientomogy.com/the_bridge.php
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