The Super/Man team relied on Glenn Close, Robin Williams and Reeves’ children

When filmmakers Peter Ettedgui and Ian Bonhôte began telling the story of Christopher Reeve, the last thing they wanted to do was make a typical biopic.

Her biggest concern in telling Reeve’s heroic journey was that the story would consist of two halves. Reeve portrayed Superman in blockbuster films in the late 1970s and 1980s, but his life was struck by tragedy after he suffered a horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down and unable to breathe without a ventilator.

After the accident, he became involved in spinal cord injury advocacy. “We were worried that the film would be half Christopher as an actor standing on his feet and then Christopher being disabled and sitting down,” says Bonhôte. But the result is a story of strength, courage, perseverance and determination, with an emotional experience at its heart.

Although Ettedgui and Bonhôte wanted to move away from a traditional biopic, they still ensured that Reeve’s story conveyed what it means to be a hero both on screen and in real life. With emotions driving the narrative, the last thing they wanted was a gimmicky documentary.

Enter editor Otto Burnham, who effortlessly weaves in archival footage with Robin Williams and new interviews with the Reeve family, Whoopi Goldberg, Susan Sarandon and Glenn Close to hit the emotional beats.

Burnham spent six to seven months in the editing room putting together a story that follows Reeve both before and after the accident. Burnham was adamant that every transition would be different. “You would drift off thematically, otherwise it would be a hard cut,” he says. One example shows Reeve learning to fly as Superman, then transitioning to the actor coming home after leaving the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation. Burnham explains: “It’s an easy transition, and Richard Donner, the director of ‘Superman,’ says, ‘Chris convinced me he would fly.’ He also convinced me he could walk again.” “

Burnham was always aware of the emotional spaces within the narrative and looked for ways to connect them.

One method was the use of celebrity interviews; But Close, Goldberg and Sarandon weren’t just talkers – they were close friends of Reeve, so much so that Bonhôte considered them characters in this film.

“They are so close that when you interview them they break down. They naturally break down because they love and value that person,” says Bonhôte.

The family interviews with Reeve’s children – William, Alexandra and Matt – add an emotional touch to the story with their honest and intimate knowledge of their father.

Ettedgui remembers meeting the trio in person for the first time after a series of Zooms over lunch in New York. “We came out of lunch and thought, ‘Well, you know, we almost don’t need to interview anyone anymore.’ Of course we did that. But we just knew we could build the film around the three of them.”

Ettedgui says: “There is something emotional about watching Chris go through the process of learning about disability, accepting it and finding new meaning in his life, and comparing this to looking back on his past as he says: ‘When I was at home and.'” when I was healthy.'”

This is where the filmmakers and Burnham were able to find the film’s emotional resonance. “The idea was to do something that would give the film a structure,” says Ettedgui, “that would allow the emotions to reach their full potential.”