Bridge No. 29 (2014)

I decided very early on that the hero of my short movie would be someone who has already lost so much and will continue to lose much more at the end. The title Bridge No. 29 suggests another chapter in the miserable life of Glenn (Matt Seeley) who has a nasty habit of burning bridges. The movie stands as a cautionary tale for those unwilling to take personal responsibility for their mistakes until they are thoroughly helpless. Another meaning of a bridge is what people at the mercy of despair are compelled to jump off of.

The helping hand that Glenn is reaching for this time is Sandra (Julia Harnett), an old friend he hasn’t seen in a long time. Their reunion couldn’t be more awful. When we are introduced to Glenn, he has already betrayed Sandra by breaking into her home and enjoying its comforts. Glenn feels justified to trespass because he is newly homeless. Surely, anyone willing to let him starve and freeze would have to be truly evil. His friend Sandra wouldn’t be that awful! Sandra’s empathy, however, is being thoroughly tested by a toxic friend.

As the intensity of the tragedy rises, I have stirred the story up with a great deal of comedy – the kind that sets teeth on edge and builds to exasperated laughter. Remember when Rupert Pupkin (Robert Deniro) invited himself in Jerry (Lewis) Langford’s home in Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy (1982)? My other movie-related inspirations here include Ronald Bronstein’s Frownland (2007), Mike Leigh’s Another Year (2010), Noah Baumbach’s Greenberg (2010), and Andrew Semans’ Nancy, Please (2013). I also hope to make allusions to Robert Bresson, especially his film Mouchette (1967).

Both Glenn and Sandra are engaged in a fierce and highly calculated battle of wills. Glenn wants to squat and mooch off in Sandra’s one-woman pad. Sandra, however, wants to get Glenn out of her sanctum guilt-free. Glenn wants his dignity and his pride by ignoring his homeless status: He’s staying at a friend’s. By ignoring his own power to change, he continues to sink into a lonely and loathsome existence.

At the end, Glenn loses a great deal more of his dignity as well as a friend. Sandra also loses her sense of self when her own generosity is pushed to the breaking point. When Sandra appears to cave into Glenn’s flattery, it is important to question how sincere her hand on Glenn’s shoulder really is. Sandra uses his friendship to trick Glenn and seizes his moment (the kettle blowing) as her opportunity to gain higher ground. Glenn is trying to do the same with Sandra, but is more successful at being oblivious to his conning. What transpires between them can never be taken back.

My staging and framing of these characters has been thoroughly designed. Our understanding of their relationship changes as we realize that Glenn, in a moment of grace as he makes breakfast in – we presume – is his kitchen, is actually a thieving intruder. There is palpable tension between Glenn and Sandra as they fight for their own goodness as well as their conceptions of what makes someone irredeemable.

We expect that Sandra will welcome Glenn as her guest. Most audiences latch onto tidy resolutions of nobility and kindness whenever the sensitive issue of homelessness is present. I am resolved to stay true to the table conversation as a war over territory and souls. When Sandra finally achieves the coveted protective barrier behind the counter that Glenn first held, she presses Glenn’s hot button in order to match Glenn’s outrage with a horrifying charge and punishment.

Glenn is in dire need of help, but whether that makes her manipulative nature any less savory will have to be wrestled with by the audience. There is a delicate balance between how people see the needy and the exploitative. It is my hope that this unsettling drama shakes up spiritual and political sensibilities. Calls to action are more successful the more troubling and morally complicated they are. I call it “unsentimental humanism.”

SCRIPT BREAKDOWN

Download BRIDGE NO. 29 Script Breakdown

PHOTOGRAPHIC STORYBOARD SEQUENCE

STAND-INS
Anna Listopad as Glenn
Stuart Chisholm as Sandra

SHOT GEOGRAPHY

SHOT 1 (THE MASTER): PART 1

SHOT 1 (THE MASTER): PART 2

SHOT 1 (THE MASTER): ALTERNATIVE – SANDRA’S ENTRANCE

SHOT 2 (ON SANDRA)

SHOT 3 (ON GLENN)

SHOT 4: PART 1 (ON GLENN 2)

SHOT 4: PART 2 (ON GLENN 2/SANDRA BEHIND COUNTER)

SHOTS 5, 6, 7, 8 (INSERTS)

VISUAL PALETTE

BLACK-AND-WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY AND LIGHTING REFERENCE
SATANTANGO (1994)
Directed by Béla Tarr
Cinematography by Gábor Medvigy

TITLE TREATMENT