There are at least three stories told in this mostly German-language doc. One is the saga of Swiss architect Othmar Ammann, who found his footing as a designer of modern bridges in early-20th-century America. (The Verrazano-Narrows is still his deco masterwork, but he had a hand in the Golden Gate Bridge, as well.) Another is the impact of all that hardware on the national landscape, for better or worse. And the third involves the brave Mohawks, mostly from Quebec, who actually did the high-wire work of bridgemaking, at tremendous cost.

These narrative building blocks never quite sit on the same plane, and the biography feels sketchy. But all the parts are fascinating.