On the Bridge of Death and Life (2016)

• 84%
• 2016
• Documentary
• Lola Jia Liu

Every year many thousands of people visit the mighty Nanjing Yangtze Bridge.Every year dozens of them have no intention of leaving the bridge alive. But there is one person determined not to see them plummet to their deaths: Chen Si. For some 13 years now he has sacrificed every free weekend to patrol back and forth across the bridge on his motorcycle. Today, having pulled more than 200 desperate souls back from the brink, Chen Si has become a national hero and saving lives his profession.This documentary delves into the hearts and minds of three people who were saved by Chen Si at various stages in his career. In doing so it sheds light on a people squeezed between post-communist dreams and the harsh laws of unmitigated capitalism. In the midst of all this we find Chen Si, trying to cope with his role but struggling with life just like all the others around him. Why live? Why die? What's the meaning of it all? And Chen Si has his own personal story to tell...