Grizzly Man
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Movie Reviews of Grizzly Man
Movie Review: I wish it weren't so funny
Summary: 5 Stars
Let me preface this review with the following statement: I am a bad person. That being said, this movie was freaking hilarious. My friend reccomended Grizzly Man to me and I saw it knowing nothing about the movie or the story of Timothy Treadwell. After the first scene where we hear Timothy talk to the camera my reaction was something along the lines of "Man I hope this movie ends with him getting eaten by a bear" (I told you I am a bad person). Timothy is (or was) one of the most unintentionally funny characters I have ever seen in my life. Almost everything he says is hilarious whether it be about his sex life, the fox that stole his hat, the park service people that are conspiring against him, or the deitys that he prays to for rain. His incessant reiteration of his love for the bears at least hints at the possibility of an amorous love. He interacts with the bears as if he was another bear (albeit one with a really girly voice). The truth is, I could not feel bad for Timothy, only laugh and wonder why he did not get eaten sooner.
The comedy does not just end with Treadwell. Timothy managed to surround himself with some of the strangest people and lucky for us, Herzog put them on film too. His ex and the pilot that took him to live with the bears are both exceptionally odd and gave me some very good laughs (the pilot sings along with the last song in the movie, the scene and the song are awesome). Timothy's struggling actor friend's account of how he found out that Tim had been eaten was also great. His speech is riddled with cheesy dramatic pauses and fake sounding emotion that would make a soap star blush.
Werner Herzog wanted to make a film to give a meaningful picture of who Treadwell was and why he did what he did. Timothy is portrayed as a sympathetic character and as the other reviews of this movie indicate, Herzog must have pulled this off for some people. I, on the other hand, saw a bunch of hilarious monologues from a delusional nutjob(Herzog's ultra deep comentary about the meanings and roots of Timothy's actions just made it funnier).
I have written this review for anybody that was thinking about seeing this movie but was turned off by people's descriptions of it as some kind of masterfully-done, extremely compelling documentary. Those of you who are turned off by such a description but would like to get some cheap laughs at the expense of weird people and a guy who all but fed himself to a bear, Watch this movie (Those of you who like to laugh at the more radical environmentalists and conservationists will probably enjoy it too).
Movie Review: A misguided, but uncompromised life makes for astonishing film
Summary: 5 Stars
Much of the reviews here cannot be taken seriously as there's clearly an agenda at work. Obvious enough when one reads the various talking points that arise so frequently as to appear coordinated in response.
Also, words like "dribble" for drivel, "rouge" for "rogue" just belie the overall amateurish nature of some of the people posting.
Many of these reviews serve to remind us of the notion that were Jesus to return to Earth today, he'd be shunned, mocked and quickly killed for daring to be different - and all at the hands of many who claim to follow His teachings.
Now, to the movie:
This is an amazing documentary about an uncompromised, fearless life. You simply cannot extrapolate personal details from video footage when you realize that the camera was Treadwell's primary companion for months on end until Amie Huguenard arrived. As such, said film is much like what you'd leave behind if you were being filmed home alone for months on end, away from society - talking to the pets, the television, musing aloud and ranting when you were upset.
How unhinged would you appear, at that point? Yet if that be our new measure of insanity (by people like that chat room "nurse" who tries to diagnose via television) we'd better start building tons of institutions - immediately.
Yes, Treadwell himself had problems, as he freely admits before the camera and in his own book. That said, this is a review of Herzog's documentary and it is FABULOUS.
Moving, absorbing, astonishing - it chronicles not only the adventures of an uncommon, passionate individual but captures the beauty of the Alaskan wilderness and Treadwell's beloved bears.
I ran out and bought this film at full price after seeing half of it on a special Discovery Channel presentation two weeks ago. It stuck with me that long, and will continue to haunt.
Like him or hate him, there's no denying Treadwill lived a life most of us only dream about while going through the motions in lives of quiet desperation. Not so for Treadwell. He refused to live in fear or let his dreams die, and for twelve years he managed to *successfully* fulfill them. He also spent time talking with schoolchildren about the bears -- and it's sad that Herzog didn't include interviews with those former students to see if any of his message stuck.
If those kids remember Treadwell and his message not to kill or harm bears, then the man did much more than he's getting credit for.
See this film. It will leave you reeling.
Movie Review: An examination of Treadwall which is as unsentimental as nature itself
Summary: 5 Stars
I would take issue with reviewers who characterize Herzog as being generally sympathetic with Timothy Treadwell. I believe that Herzog regards Treadwell in much the same way he regards Klaus Kinski --- remarkable in one sense, but ultimately an impossible human being. Herzog's veiled references to Kinski (during Treadwell's extended, profanity-filled rant about the Park Service) are hard to miss if one knows the background. Herzog admires Treadwell as a film-maker, one craftsman to another, and there is no denying that much of Treadwell's footage is quite remarkable. However, it takes a rather skewed perspective to believe that Herzog has taken up Treadwell's banner in any sense.
Herzog makes clear that his view of nature differs sharply from the fantasy-land notion of nature that Treadwell constructed in his mind. It is one of the few occasions that Herzog goes on record as specifically disagreeing with Treadwell, but Herzog's choice of footage allows Treadwell, through word & deed, largely to damn himself. It should obvious to almost everyone that anthropomorphizing bears & foxes really isn't a very good idea at all, on multiple levels. Treadwell's almost-disbelieving response when he finds animals killed, not by the poachers he was convinced were hidden in every copse, but by other animals, makes it pretty evident that his view of Benign Nature was largely divorced from reality.
Herzog also observes that while Treadwell may have been dwelling in some type of Make-Believe Nature World, he was nonetheless quite canny and aware of the image he had carefully constructed and contained. The conspicuous absence of the assorted girlfriends who accompanied him, as well as the multiple well-rehearsed takes and framing of shots, shows a man who had a very clear idea of what he was doing...at least on one level.
Ultimately, what this film left me with was Herzog's examination of ego run amok, leading ultimately to a self-ordained destruction. To me, Treadwell never seemed to approach fulfillment or anything approaching happiness, and don't think Herzog sees this in Treadwell either. One is left then with an ego-driven belief in one's own importance and imperviousness, and where can that lead but hubris? Even without knowing the background of Treadwell's story, one is certain from the first frame that Treadwell is screwed big time. It isn't a question of things ending up badly; we've seen this before from Herzog. It is the journey to the ultimate disaster which interests him.
Movie Review: A disturbingly beautiful chronicle of madness and courage.
Summary: 5 Stars
Timothy Treadwell, the "Grizzly Man" of this film's title,
obviously suffered from some form of severe undiagnosed mental illness,
which is pathetically showcased for all the world to see in the footage of this film.
Now he is dead, along with a naive friend,
because he decided to tread where no one had tread before.
I hesistate to use the phrase "dared tread", because the courage of the insane can scarely be considered real courage at all.
But despite Treadwell's meaningless self-sacrifice, and his callous and wonton sacrifice of his thoroughly bewildered female companion,
the man (boy? child?) shot some of the most incredible film footage of Alaskan grizzly bears ever captured.
Those shots, and the shots of the severe and foreboding Alaskan landscape he became psychologically lost in, make this film worth watching.
But be forewarned, it will be a disturbing watch at best.
It will be an infuriating and exasperating watch at worst when one is subjected to Treadwell's pitiful whining blubbering outbursts of pseudo self-examination
and his raging condemnations of others whom he perceives as not cleaving to his unusual world-view.
The best thing about this film is the musical score,
and the special feature included that chronicles the jam session that led to its creation: "In the Edges: the 'Grizzly Man' Sessions".
Seeing the cinematic hero Werner Herzog in the same room with the music hero Richard Thompson is more than worth the price of admission.
Truely, the musical feature program is the most valuable, and the only reason I would buy this DVD.
Richard Thompson is one of the greatest, most facile, and most original guitar players (and singer-songwriters) of this or any era.
His dedicated fans will recognize in the soundtrack the melody line of a twenty-year-old song called "The Razor's Edge" (perhaps an appropriate choice from Richard for use in this film) from his (sadly currently unavailable on CD) monumental instrumental album "Strict Tempo".
In the end,
the image that stays with me the most from the entire effort is from the musical special feature.
It is of Richard Thompson's long and graceful fingers working the fretboard of his Stratocaster,
with Werner Herzog sitting in the background, his face transformed with a look of ecstatic transport.
Regarding the film itself:
adorably cute foxes;
ugly brutal disgusting grizzly bears.
Movie Review: Treading where we don't belong
Summary: 5 Stars
In my work towards a sadly neglected German degree, film played an important role, and Werner Herzog's films were always a main topic of discussion. Although his popular Dracula remake, "Nosferatu", piqued my interest, I yawned through the "Fitzcarralldo" and "Aguirre Wrath of God" that others found exciting. Why was I stuck watching films about Latin America when I wanted to learn all I could about European mannerisms, laws, and culture?
Fast forward you don't want to know how many years, and I am flipping through my cable channels, caught by a documentary about Timothy Treadwell. I know of Treadwell because of a brief report on the news months before....some guy dumb and arrogant enough to think he could talk to brown Alaskan bears had obviously gotten what he deserved. But the dynamic parka-wearing, exuberant blond in the camera had me immediately transfixed. Soon, I was hearing Werner Herzog speaking for the first time, interacting with those who knew Timothy Treadwell best, and those who had been as puzzled as I at first over why he'd done what he'd done.
The pairing of Treadwell's film with Herzog's gentle, sad and finally, truthful documentary handles this story in a way that doesn't paint the "Grizzly Man" (actually the bears that Treadwell camped among were brown Alaskan bears) as a caracature, but doesn't shy from showing his slipping toward maddness. Even before Treadwell appears to dissolve into a kind of paranoia, Herzog separates himself from Treadwell by saying, "Here I differ from Timothy, in that I don't believe he had a relationship with these bears. I believe they were acting on instinct..." (this is a paraphrase, not exact)
I have not been disappointed with the DVD. Within the whole film, Herzog interviews parents, childhood friends, people who shared his love for wildlife, the coroner who worked on the bodies of Treadwell and his girlfriend, the pilot who had so often flown Timothy and Amy out to their campsite, and Alaskan natives who explain how they see their relationship with the brown bear and how puzzling it was to them that Timothy wanted to invade the bears' territory.
Thinking back to those older Herzog films, I can't help but see them as tales of creatures trying to push themselves into a setting, or push their ideals into a setting, that simply wouldn't have them. "Grizzly Man" shows a gentler side of this philosophy, because we are given a chance to actually empathize with Treadwell in this film.