“Super/Man” documentary highlights “universal” themes such as “love and loss” in Christopher Reeves’ story

CNN
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When Christopher Reeve was thrown from his horse at a horse race in Virginia in 1995, leaving the “Superman” actor paralyzed from the neck down, the irony was unmistakable – a Hollywood giant who had once seemed invincible was now defenseless. But that was by no means the end of his story, as Reeve continued to work in the entertainment industry until his death in 2004 and was a staunch advocate for people with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities.

The new documentary “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” reconstructs his life and career and paints a sensitive, harrowing and incredibly human portrait of the man as an actor, lawyer, husband and father.

The film's directors, Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui – the duo behind the 2020 Netflix Paralympics documentary “Rising Phoenix” and 2018's “McQueen” – took many important ideas from the project, perhaps most notably what it taught them about grief and loss.

“You don't overcome grief, you live with it,” Bonhôte said in a recent interview with CNN. “You just live with it and build yourself up in it. It's almost like you're an organic material that has to adapt to the new environment.”

Adapting to a new environment is a central theme of “Super/Man.” The documentary takes a brutal look at Reeves' accident and the days and months that followed, from first wondering if he even wanted to stay alive to grueling early rehabilitation and recovery to discovering a new purpose in life.

“This purpose has two sides,” Ettedgui explained. “On the one hand, he becomes an extraordinary advocate for the community of people with spinal cord injuries and then for people with disabilities in general, and on the other hand, he continues his career, he begins his career in an industry that – as his doctor says (in the document) – is not at all disability-friendly.”

In 1997, less than two years after his accident, Reeve directed his first feature film, a poignant portrait of a family coming together to help a son dying of AIDS. The film was called In the Gloaming. The film was nominated for five Primetime Emmys, including one for Reeve's direction. He went on to direct two more projects and also act in leading, cameo and supporting roles.

Reeve also worked with the American Paralysis Association, which soon became the Christopher Reeve Foundation. The documentary traces Reeve's journey from someone who initially couldn't see himself as a member of the disability community to becoming one of its champions. At the 1996 Academy Awards, he appeared before an emotional crowd of his peers and gave a passionate and funny speech about how films can address important social issues.

Ettedgui, who describes himself as “definitely a Superman kid,” was touched by Reeves' obvious impact on those around him, but was also “in awe” of his inner journey.

“I was always struck by something Chris said right at the beginning after his accident. He said, 'Man has conquered space – how come we can't understand what's going on in our deep tissue, in our spinal cord, in our body?'” he said, adding that Reeves' desire with the foundation is to ask the question, “We need to find new ways to deal with what happens to a person after an accident like the one I experienced.”

“This story, this development was so uplifting and extraordinary for us,” said Ettedgui.

Eschewing a simplistic chronology, the film takes an intimate look at Reeve's early years as a theater actor in New York, where he studied with longtime friend Robin Williams at the Juilliard School and eventually made off-Broadway appearances with actors such as Jeff Daniels and William Hurt. Daniels shares some exciting details from those early years in the documentary, including how Reeve walked into the dressing room one day and told his then-unknown co-stars that he was being considered for the role of Superman.

“It's all about human nature,” says Ettedgui of the project's enormity. “None of us, very few of us, will know what it's like to be cast as Superman… But we can all imagine that we all experience love and loss,” he added. “We all experience mortality. That's why there's something universal about this story, because all of that comes into play in a very extreme way.”

The tragedy in Super/Man is twofold. Just months after Reeve died relatively suddenly of heart failure in 2004 at age 52 – nine years after his accident – his wife Dana was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. She died in early 2006 at age 44. The documentary explores how these unspeakable losses affected both Reeve's younger son Will – whom he had with Dana and who was three at the time of his father's accident – and Reeve's two older children from a previous relationship.

In one of the film's most heartbreaking passages, Will Reeve, now 32, recounts how he pretended to go back to sleep the night his father died because he didn't want to face it yet. He later recounts how he has felt essentially “alone” since his mother died. His siblings Matthew and Alexandra share similarly emotional memories of the time when they lost both their father and stepmother.

Of course, the incredible authenticity and vulnerability expressed by the Reeve children in the film form the heart of the film and embody their father's lasting legacy.

“We knew they were going to be really important, but we didn't know we were going to shape the film (around them),” Bonhôte said of the interviews with Reeves' children, which he said were all filmed individually. “The three of them came that day ready to bare their souls. They wanted to reveal everything once they signed up for the project.”

“I think the way you see them on screen actually reflects the kind of people they are,” he added. “They are passionate about the memory of their father.”

“I think when I look at their family and embrace my own perception of grief and loss, I think they've done a great job of adapting, moving on and still achieving great things.”

“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” hits theaters on Wednesday. The film is presented by CNN Films, HBO Documentary Films and DC Studios, which, like CNN, are part of Warner Bros. Discovery.