The Bridge (III) (2006) User Reviews

An interesting and important film.

[rioplaydrum · 8/10 · 11 January 2007]

Being something of an anti-Scientology nut who would like to see that organization go away, I was eager to view this film. The only views I've been able to score have been very grainy and not available for download (I understand the 'church' is responsible for vexing any attempts at allowing access).

The film itself is a bit bland and the acting shaky, but evidently this has ironically boosted the film's popularity as many ex-scientologists have confirmed the church itself is full of bland existence and very bad acting.

The story line follows a young girl initiate, her immediate supervisor, and the father of another church member who commits suicide. "Dianne", played by Carol Smith, portrays a somewhat dull and unquestioning volunteer who is gradually wooed from her job in the outside world to become a full time slave to her Local Org, supervised by an older man (Bill Baker), in exchange for more training materials. Dianne's supervisor is an odd man, mechanically praising her for her efforts and then suddenly chastising Dianne's innocent mistakes. At one point in the film, Dianne is about to open a forbidden door, behind of which is a 'fully staffed office' for L. Ron Hubbard's return (He's been dead since 1986).

Her supervisor chides Dianne, "Oh, no, no, no. No one ever goes in there..."

The side plot involves the father of a church member (Tom Padgett), who discovers his daughter has jumped to her death while in church supervision, and would like some answers surrounding his daughter's demise.

I will reveal no more, only to say it is surprising, based on the film's overall content, that the church of Scientology would be so upset about this film. While it does contain some creepy moments and dark surprises, it is hardly scandalous or a hard-hitting expose' on what has been labeled 'the most dangerous cult in America'.

A rare look at the inter-workings of Scientology

[scegielski · 8/10 · 16 December 2006]

I saw the title of this film and wondered whether it was about Scientology , similar to the "South Park" episode it draws from, or from Scientology like "Battlefield Earth". But, having enjoyed the former of the aforementioned, I decided to give it a look. The film does a nice job of inter-mingling a narrative story with an informative look at Scientology. The acting is pretty good for the most part. The dialog in the film is written in a way that makes it seem like a documentary at times. The production quality is mid-range. The film is in black and white for the most part with a bit of color added to emphasize story elements. I found that it was successful for the most part in this approach. After watching this film, I am interested in knowing more about the story of it's making. Some of the situations in the film seem to be based on actual events. Overall, I would recommend this film to anyone who may have seen and enjoyed the South Park Scientology episode, but wants to see a bit more serious look at the subject matter.

You should see it

[bernie-122 · 8/10 · 27 September 2008]

If you're expecting the sort of damning exposé you'll find on the Operation Clambake website, this isn't it. But if you don't know anything about Scientology, then it's a good place to start.

The trouble is, the scientologists have, predictably, exercised their legal muscle and have had the film taken down from everywhere it was available, so seeing it is not that simple. Fortunately, it is available to download in a somewhat lo-rez but still watchable version in a 3-part RAR archive, e.g. (ScientologyXenuTheBr.part1.rar) I won't tell you exactly where, but I will say that if you keep looking, you will surely find it, maybe even in a very well-known and large rapid filesharing repository.

The film itself is certainly not Oscar material, but is not a bad effort for a shoestring budget indy production. It does not ridicule Scientology, it just gives a couple of glimpses into what really goes on there. On that basis, it's a bit hard to see why the Scientologists got so upset, because, like I said, it's certainly no Operation Clambake. The opening clip of Ronnie Miscavige is obviously something they wouldn't want to be spread around, but it's really something that anyone who's only seen Scientology's PR spin should see. If nothing else, you will see that the notion of Scientology as a religion is a total sham. It is a cult, and not a nice one.

Suitable for all levels (Preclear to OT8)

[Karl Self · 10/10 · 8 February 2008]

The movie is essentially "cinéma verité" the other way round. It's fictional but in many ways more illustrative than a History Channel special. If you're after insight and good entertainment, then "The Bridge" sets the current gold standard.

The only reasons why you wouldn't want to watch "The Bridge" is that you're clinically allergic to movies without explosions, or you're David Miscavige (top Scientologist, incidentally the Pleasantville-type guy who speaks at the beginning of this movie).

"The Bridge" proves that in a good movie, "minimalist" and "low budget" doesn't have to equate "tedious", "black-and-white" not "pretentious", and "movie-with-a-cause" not "over-zealous and overblown". It was shot in just five days, and still manages to be fresh, entertaining and right on the spot. It's one of those strangely sexy movies, one which makes you want to be a filmmaker yourself. I especially thought that all of the cast were marvelous. The colour-within-monochrome effect was very subtly done and well utilized (although nicked from Schindler's List). Not least, the script builds up an amazing amount of tension and momentum, and keeps it very well. Scientology is shown realistically, without tarnishing it as alien-satanist-braineater-cult, and still utterly creepy and insidious. As an "acted movie", "The Bridge" can show stuff a documentary couldn't, for example the auditing session at the beginning brings the viewer to the heart of that process. It far beats having that process explained and documented to you in every detail.

The only thing I'd want to change about the film is the piano track which is a bit too jingly-jangly for my taste -- as if they'd chased a cat across the keyboard.

Scientology actually managed to get this movie totally banned, you can't see it at the cinema, rent it or buy it, only download it off the internet. (I'm telling this in case you've bought into their "we just want to help people"-shtick.) The reason are two short copyrighted sequences of David Miscavige. Because Scientology somehow are allowed to enforce the strictest of copyrights over all of their material in spite of the fact that they are a tax-exempt church, they have managed to effectively disable all validated forms of criticism. I'm sure the Spanish Inquisition wishes they'd thought of copyrighting the bible. "B-but the bible tells us to love one another ..." -- "Copyright injunction!! Burn the slag!"

But anyway, if I were a producer, I'd keep close tabs on Bret Hannover and his crew. If that's what they can do on a shoestring budget, then I want my next blockbuster to come from these honchos.

The First Fiction Film Critical Of Scientology.

[meddlecore · 7/10 · 7 October 2013]

The beginning of this film is really quite disturbing. It opens with a training video for staff members of the c(ult)church of scientology- who are expected to bring new, paying, members into the "congregation". This is then followed by an awkwardly aggravating re-enactment of the dianetics process (a feat that would later be emulated in The Master).

The film is a fictional tale "based-on-a-true-story", written using the accounts from members who have left the cult; and blends truth and fiction by incorporating actual training videos used by the Scientologists to indoctrinate their victims into it.

Basically, it tells the story of one woman's experience as a member of the church of Scientology.

Hanover claimed that this was the only film to be made about Scientology at the time. The film was released straight to the internet, but was promptly removed because of harassment from the cult.

After releasing the film, Hanover has made this statement (I'm assuming due to barratrous harassment from the scientologist goons): "due to copyright issues, I ask that this film be withdrawn from circulation... Do not contact me concerning this film, I am no longer supporting it".

The Bridge refers to a technique that is utilized by the Scientologists to "clear" themselves of Thetans: the ghostly spirits of extraterrestrials, who were brought to earth and destroyed by Xenu- and the cause of all psychological problems).

Their longterm- and I mean very f*cking longterm- goal is to "clear" the whole planet. Very Nazi-ish (or Mormony) stuff, that is promoted largely by the Scientology elite from the SEA organization.

Here is a basic description of "The Bridge to Total Freedom" from wikipedia:

"The Bridge to Total Freedom, or simply The Bridge for short, is the fundamental Church of Scientology concept by which a person charts their progress towards higher goals. In fact, it exists as a literal chart showing the proper order of levels one must progress in Scientology before reaching Clear and ultimately, Operating Thetan.

A printed edition of this chart can be obtained at Scientology missions, churches and other orgs.

The Bridge is broken down into two parallel paths, Training and Processing. Processing addresses the Scientology devotee's "case", or how they function in life as influenced by their "aberrations". The Training path teaches Hubbard's theories on the nature of life and the universe, as well as techniques utilized in the auditing process. The participants feel that obtaining such knowledge greatly enhances their ability to be effectively engage in the auditing of another member. Scientologists can travel up either side of the Bridge and many do both sides. Although not part of the formal Bridge, the chart also lists a large number of optional courses and training actions that can be done by Scientologists."

The film is low budget, but it is nicely shot and creepy as all hell. It certainly seems to be what influenced certain elements of PT Anderson's later film "The Master" (2012). It's definitely worth a watch, if only because the Scientologists tried to have it suppressed. I found it more interesting than PT Anderson's film, to be honest!

7 out of 10.