Grizzly Man
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Movie Reviews of Grizzly Man
Movie Review: "Spellbinding" & "Mesmerizing"...believe the critics
Summary: 5 Stars
For the last thirteen years of his life, Timothy Treadwell's struggles with the modern world drew him to re-invent himself in the wilds of Alaska. He gained a sense of satisfaction living, loving and "protecting" the grizzly bears of the picturesque coastline of the Katmai National Park. That he met his end being sliced and torn by the teeth and claws of the animals he loved surprised none. Grizzly Man is his story.
The posters and trailers for the film provide the one word snippets "Spellbinding" and "Mesmerizing" from reviews of the Warner Herzog documentary. Two more apropos terms could not be selected, as the film fills viewers with equal parts awe and pity, intrigue and condescending judgment. Watching the footage Treadwell recorded while living among the bears produces the same feelings as listening to a captivating scholar and watching a child touch a hot stove at the same time. He's dazzling and informative, but his life is also frightening. His death seemed as inevitable as the eclectic Treadwell's onetime guest appearance with the bewitched David Letterman.
Because of Treadwell's foolhardy endeavors, he recorded video that only an amateur could capture. For union issues and insurance risks alone, no production company would ever finance someone to make a film while living among bears (he actually touches them on occasion). His footage of bears at play, catching salmon and battling for territorial rights are the film's greatest feature. But the pleasure gained from viewing them forever tethers itself to the knowledge that the project led to the death of the filmmaker. We literally view the world as a dead man saw it. Is this exploitation? Some would say "Yes".
Whether the film exploits his death is as ambiguous as the message of his life. I would guess that a dozen people would come away from Grizzly Man with 12 different opinions of Treadwell. Some would say he is to be admired, a man so full of life that his love and dreams seemed to infect all who met him (the only detractors in the film are people who never met him). Other people will find his life laughable, pointing to his lack of accomplishments and the possibility that he caused more harm to the bears by assimilating them to man.
I found him to be sincere, but a bit lost. I saw a boy who played with teddy bears as a child and then tried to play with the real things as an adult...or maybe never really grew up at all. He was not the grizzly's messiah, as he seemed to believe, but he did live with a zest for life and a determination for curing the wrongs he thought existed. Should we really judge him so harshly because his vision of the world was a bit unrealistic?
Many define him by his oddities, questionable judgment and grandiose behaviors. But the film presents a deeper understanding of the man. By ending with an old cowboy ballad, Grizzly Man marries Treadwell to the romantic ideal of the frontiersman, a man who casts off the comforts and stability of society to quench a thirst only satisfied in nature. All we can really say about his motivations is that Timothy Treadwell found something living with the grizzly bears that gave him purpose in life. We should all be so lucky.
He'd tell you a tale of the old days
When the country was wild all around
Sit under the stars of the Milky Way
And listen while the coyotes howl.
(From "Coyotes" by Don Edwards, featured in Grizzly Man)
Movie Review: Look deeper
Summary: 5 Stars
It seems that the many negative reviews here have failed to grasp the intentions of this film. Grizzly Man is by no means intended for consumption exclusively by the coffee-house crowd, however if one is to gain any true understanding of its points it must be examined on a level somewhere beyond the superficial: Superficially we see an emotionally disturbed man floundering in the Alaskan wilderness, yet just inches below this superficiality we find a rare and amazing portraiture of a man's attempts to sublimate his feelings of alienation toward society at large.
Treadwell's questionable ability as a woodsman, the confused nature of his "mission", his eccentric enthusiasms or outbursts of anger; all these things are peripheral to the film, however seem to receive the most attention from its detractors. Treadwell is not an easy character to like, but the film does not require us to like him. Herzog neither condones nor condemns Treadwell's actions, and attempts to insert his own opinions into the narration in the least subversive way possible so as not to cloud his documentary with his own subjectivity. It is rare to find a film that encourages you to think for yourself and come to your own conclusions, yet it seems to me that because of this many people have concluded that the film is meaningless, asking "Why did I waste my time watching some film about this loner screwball nut?"
The thing is that Grizzly Man isn't really about Treadwell. You don't have to like, agree, or even sympathise with him, because he is only the icon that Herzog uses for a much deeper examination of human nature. What IS required is that you empathise with Treadwell, if only on the most common level shared between any two human beings in the universe: the inextricable bond of our humanity.
The core of this film centres around the dichotomy between the individual and the exterior. We feel and know ourselves in a truer, more pure way than we can ever hope to know anything outside ourselves. The question of the honesty of the exterior is one that has been asked by philosophers for years, and if the universe is to retain whatever mystery we are yet to steal from it, is hopefully one that will never be answered. Though we will all assimilate into the world with varying degrees of success it is unavoidable that we will also be one step removed from it at the same time. Treadwell's response to this paradox was simply to remove himself from the human world entirely and assign emotions to creatures that clearly possessed none in order to find some semblance of the love that he believed he was denied.
Grizzly Man is not about bears. It is not about Alaska. It is not about the wilderness. It is not even about Timothy Treadwell. It's content is conceptual and intellectual, though by no means hard to understand. Grizzly Man is a celebration of humanity and of man's endless quest to gain a greater understanding of himself and all the bizarre and beautiful turns this quest can take. If you find yourself disappointed by things as superficial as the shaky camera or Treadwell's attitudes then you've almost certainly been watching the wrong film for the wrong reasons and before assigning a star rating, remember that you are reviewing a film, not a person.
Herzog's editing and the insight and understanding that he brings to his narration has created something close to a masterpiece. This is not a nature documentary and was never intended to be. It is a work of art.
Movie Review: Self-deluded savior run amok
Summary: 5 Stars
Wernor Herzog's Grizzly Man is a fascinating portrait of how an individual can come to be a self-deluded savior. Before watching it, I gave Timothy Treadwell the benefit of the doubt. I figured he was a reasonably intelligent, if not eccentric, person who got a little too close to his subject, perhaps let his guard down, got too relaxed, and forgot about the ferocity of the beasts he was dealing with. After watching it, I'm convinced Treadwill was, for the most part, an unstable, self-deluded idiot. Numerous times throughout the film, we see Treadwill disturbingly close to his subjects, as if they were simply misunderstood and not capable of killing a human. It's a theme throughout the movie where Treadwell talks about how dangerous these animals are and how dangerous it is what he's doing, but he either doesn't believe what he's saying or doesn't care.
Treadwell's megalomania comes through when he constantly talks about how he "protected" the bears for another season, how nobody else could or would do that, but he did. If we saw him stop some poaching or something along those lines, there might be some validity to his claim. But the only time we see any visitors to the area, he hides behind some foliage and complains about people harassing the bears to photograph them. Treadwill has convinced himself he needs to be there every year, and the bears need him there too for their own safety. How he's protecting them by following them around with a video camera is beyond me. He did get plenty of excellent footage of the bears so all his time is not spent in vain, but other than this, there is nothing that leads me to believe any of his time is spent in scientific pursuits.
One of the Alaskan natives that was interviewed for the film says he believes Treadwill got what he deserved, and that the reason he thought Treadwell wasn't killed sooner was that the bears probably sensed he was mentally retarded and thus, not a threat. I couldn't help but laugh at that, because I can see how there seems to be some truth to it. Several times in the movie, Herzog shows footage of an obviously unbalanced Treadwell lashing out at different groups of people he believes have wronged him. There is also an interesting exchange where Treadwell discusses his sexuality. He talks about how he has had problems in relationships with women, how it might be easier if he was gay, but then emphatically states that he is straight. I got the feeling his sexual identity was confused, and that had something to do with his isolated existence living with the bears in the Alaskan wilderness. He also alluded to an alcoholic past when he was younger, and how living among the bears had saved him from that fate.
The film itself was very entertaining throughout. Treadwell took some incredible footage that is a joy to watch. Herzog blends the footage and interviews seamlessly, and the soundtrack fits the footage very well.
Timothy Treadwell wasn't a bad person, and I think he meant well, but he used grizzly bears as escapism, a way to leave his turbulent younger life behind and find some stability and a way to cope in this world. Perhaps he found a measure of this, but unfortunately for him, those who cross that invisible line into nature need to do so shed of fairy tale notions and beliefs. Treadwell definitely didn't do that, which ultimately led to his demise.
Movie Review: The Indifference of Reality & and the Self-Delusion of Humans.
Summary: 5 Stars
"Grizzly Man" explores the life and death of naturalist and filmmaker Timothy Treadwell, who was killed in 2003, along with girlfriend Amie Huguenard, by one of the Alaskan grizzly bears he had spent over a decade trying to protect and befriend. But "Grizzly Man" doesn't cast Treadwell in the heroic light of a wildlife activist or the tragic pall of someone who met a gruesome death. Director Werner Herzog challenges Timothy Treadwell's world view just as he tries to faithfully present it. Treadwell spent 13 summers in remote Alaskan wilderness closely observing, filming, and attempting to socialize with grizzly bears. He shot 100 hours of footage of the bears and himself in the last 5 years, some of which we see in this film. His ebullient personality made him a popular bear educator with schoolchildren. But Timothy Treadwell's sentimental view of grizzly bears and of himself as their friend and protector was undoubtedly delusional. Herzog, who narrates the film, admires Treadwell's commitment to filmmaking but criticizes his self-serving view of nature.
It is unclear what to make of Timothy Treadwell's obsession with Alaska's grizzly bears, and that's what makes "Grizzly Man" so interesting. The film isn't about wildlife conservation, a subject upon which it barely touches. Perhaps it is about self-delusion. Timothy Treadwell's self-appellation "kind warrior", his belief that a strong face could repel an aggressive bear, the idea that those bears paid any attention to him at all would be strictly comical if Treadwell were not an essentially sincere and likable character. He treated the bears not as wild animals or even as equals, but, bizarrely, as pets. He was an alcoholic who transferred his emotional needs to a fanatic defense of grizzly bears. But Treadwell didn't choose to fight for bears in need of protection. He chose to call himself "protector" of the stable bear population on Kodiak Island.
Yet Treadwell did get a lot of enviable film footage of those bears (by breaking the law). He did educate people about them. He had an appealing sense of humor and revealed more of himself on film than most people would dare. A guy on an ego trip? Certainly. Did he get what he asked for? Maybe. In the end a bear probably killed Treadwell simply because it was hungry, not because it was annoyed, which goes to show how completely indifferent the grizzlies were to Treadwell's efforts to live among them. Perhaps we are supposed to see some of Timothy Treadwell's self-delusion in ourselves. It's there in everyone. Treadwell's case is far from being the most destructive I've seen. But Werner Herzog has done a fantastic job of distilling it. And "Grizzly Man" is pretty even-handed in its sensitivity to Treadwell's supporters, detractors, observers, and to Treadwell himself.
The DVD (Lion's Gate 2005): "In the Edges: The Grizzly Man Session" (53 min) is a chronicle of the 2-day recording session of "collective improvisation" in December 2004 for the film's score. Included are interviews with some of the musicians, who had never played together before, as well as interviews with Herzog and film editor Joe Bini. There are some interesting moments, but this featurette is way too long. There is also a theatrical trailer (2 ½ min). Subtitles for the film are available in English and Spanish.
Movie Review: Unearthing one man's dark heart among beasts
Summary: 5 Stars
What a fascinating film this is about nature and man in it. German director Werner Herzog has made his share of great fiction movies about men embracing their id in the wilds of nature at the expense of their sanity, so the late Timothy Treadwell, the "Grizzly Man" that serves as the movie's title, is a perfect documentary subject. Treadwell got closer to these giant bears than anyone during the last 13 summers of his life until he and his girlfriend were killed by one.
Herzog mostly uses Treadwell's own footage to reveal the story, and the results are unlikely and extraordinary. We see the bears in their element - on a plain and on an island of trees Treadwell dubs "The Grizzly Maze." Katmai National Park, scattered on the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, is a visual wonder, and the intimacy Treadwell achieves with the bears allows him to capture a bear fight as intense and vicious as any nature film I've ever seen. Uncut and filmed at close range, it is a titanic, beautiful struggle that involves primal strategy and raw strength. It is riveting as a later shot of bears sprinting on a beach is playful.
But there is much more.
Treadwell uses his camera as a confessional. A decent man with a reasonably laudible aims morphs into a profane, disturbed meglomaniac whose emotional issues likely drove him to Alaska to live with bears who tolerate him but, as the footage shows, don't consider him a family friend. We learn he is a failed actor, a mild con artist, a loner who pretends on film he is alone when he is not, and, above all, a man who plays at being virtuous when he quite clearly thinks he is owed more acclaim and gratitude that he gets.
Herzog first shows his temper in a hilarious scene where a fox steals Treadwell's hat. Later, Treadwell vents when tourists come to photograph the bears. Later still, he launches a vulgar rant against the National Park Service that makes "Grizzly Man" unsuitable for kids but essential to the man and the film. Treadwell thinks he's out there for the bears. He's really out there for himself. So anyone of us would be, for we do not go to the zoo so the animals can see us. We go to see the animals.
Treadwell needs to declare himself, to say "I am." Bears don't. Bears act out of instinct and conditioning. Treadwell expresses, and does so out of thought. Without stating it, "Grizzly Man" is a convincing argument against the evolutionary theory that suggests man arose from the clay of beasts. It's also a compelling case against Treadwell's mission, which seems to be little more than hanging around bears and filming them. Treadwell claims, quite often, to be "protecting" them. From what?
His other mission is education. Stunning as the photography is, what I learned from "Grizzly Man" about bears is that they're bears. That in itself is divine but Treadwell wants to go further and impose human traits on them, which seem absurd the day he finds a baby grizzly's skull picked clean by other bears. Finally Treadwell gets dumb and stays in the "Maze" later in the summer than he should. The familiar bears are gone, replaced by one who eventually kills him. He probably captures the bear on tape, and we see a close-up of its beady brown eyes. Not a flicker of humanity. We shouldn't expect there to be.