Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story tells the heroic story of Christopher Reeve, from his role as Superman to his advocacy for disabilities and spinal injuries.
Directors: Ian Bonhôte & Peter Ettedgui
Genre: Documentary
Run Time: 104′
BFI London Film Festival Screening: October 14-19, 2024
U.S. Release Date: October 11, 2024 (limited)
U.K. Release Date: November 1, 2024 (limited)
Where to Watch: In select US theaters and UK & Irish cinemas
Documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is about a super man known to the world as Superman. When Christopher Reeve won the role in Richard Donner’s 1978 superhero film at just 24, he was immediately thrust into the spotlight. Decades later, he remains arguably the definite version of the hero who embodied Truth, Justice and the American Way. But it would be an event away from that iconic movie that would prove Reeve’s courageousness. On Memorial Day weekend in 1995, a horse riding accident left him paralysed from the neck down and requiring a ventilator. Yet he remained in the spotlight, becoming a disability advocate who campaigned to raise money and help people with spinal injuries.
Reeve was also determined to walk again and find a cure, with a particular fascination with stem cells. However, ‘cure’ is a dicey word to use for disabilities. As a charitable foundation was established in his name, he and his wife Dana also started to fight to provide care for people today.
Super/Man and the story of its fascinating central figure is almost guaranteed to spark tears. Directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui have experience handling documentaries about disability. Their last film, Rising Phoenix, was about the Paralympic Games (it was researching that film that they saw footage of Reeve at the 1996 games). Here, they have access to a wealth of archive footage from Reeve’s wide array of work and his family’s home movies. The actor provides narration through excerpts from his audiobook memoir recorded before his passing in 2004, complemented by talking head interviews. Bonhôte and Ettedgui also intermittently cut to a statue of Reeve, as if to make a connection to him (and Superman) as a modern Hercules.
The main contributions come from Reeve’s three children: Matthew, Alexandra and half-sibling Will (as the latter says though, “there is no half.”) It is clear that Reeve’s accident is still an emotionally raw event for this family, as is Dana’s death a year and a half after Reeve from lung cancer. There are also interviews with Reeve’s celebrity friends Susan Sarandon, Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels and Whoopi Goldberg. Yet the late Robin Williams has the largest presence here, both in personality and involvement. He was Reeve’s former roommate at Juilliard and became a close friend, cheering him up after his accident by pretending to be a Russian proctologist.
In one of his audiobook excerpts, Reeve recalled being in hospital after the accident and having moments from his life pop up in his mind in random sequence. Super/Man replicates that feeling by going back and forth between Reeve’s rise to stardom and what happened after his accident. There is a look at his classical training and how the actor – an unknown in an off-off-Broadway play before being cast in Superman – cared deeply about making us believe a man can fly. Reeve never seemed to escape the Man of Steel despite a varied career. But he used that to his advantage after his accident to spread awareness whilst continuing to act and turning to directing.
There is also a look at Reeve’s relationship with Matthew and Alexandra’s mother Gae Exton, and how it ended because of his commitment issues. The film then links that back to his parents’ ugly divorce, fractured family homes, and the father he could never please (when his son gets the Superman role, he is only happy because he mistakes it for a George Bernard Shaw play). That leads to Reeve becoming an overly competitive and athletic father, with the film (and Reeve himself) noting that the accident may have actually brought him closer to his family.
The non-linear story structure is an odd choice in an otherwise standard bio-doc. However, the emotion that Super/Man provokes cannot be denied. It is a potent film that is both overwhelmingly sad and hopeful, presenting Reeve with all his charisma and complexities whilst highlighting Dana’s compassion and enduring love. “You’re still you and I love you,” she tells her husband after the accident, which are the words that encourage him to keep fighting.
There is a lot of talk in the film about what makes a hero, with Reeve uncomfortable with calling himself one (aware of his own flaws and insecurities). He ends up with a changed definition of the word, saying it is “an ordinary individual who finds the strength to preserve and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” As Super/Man successfully argues, he could easily be talking about himself.
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story will be screened at the BFI London Film Festival on October 14-19, 2024. Read our list of 30 movies to watch at the 2024 BFI London Film Festival!
