A Ponte do Desejo

Tragic movie.

The backstory on this 1976 film is interesting. 10 years earlier the country music singer Bobbie Gentry had written a song with the same title which tells of a young man committing suicide by jumping off the Tallahatchie Bridge. But Gentry's lyrics never reveal why the fictional Billy Joe killed himself and in interviews about the song she was very coy and unrevealing.

So, they made a movie about it. Robbie Benton, teen idol of the 70s, plays the title character although this movie is really about the young girl who loves hm: Bobby Joe Hartley, played by Glynnis O'Connor. I thought these two young actors were incredible in their roles and they held this otherwise flawed movie together. The subject matter can feel a little strange at times (there aren't many movies these days that delve into the sexual desires of a 15 year old girl) but if you can get past that, I think you'll enjoy this movie. It's not an all time great one but just for Benton and O'Connor's acting alone, it was worth watching.