Grizzly Man

Herzog's "Grizzly Man" is a miraculous documentary. He started by collecting hundreds of hours of video tape shot by the movie's subject, Timothy Treadwell. The director then culls through the footage and assembles a fascinating portrait of this uniquely bold (and clearly troubled) human being: Treadwell spent 13 summers living amongst grizzly bears in the wilds of Alaska, before being killed by one in the summer of 2003.

Treadwell's footage is gorgeous, and at times heart-stopping: a grizzly battle caught on tape is the stuff Animal Planet would kill for. But the footage goes beyond simply revealing the harsh yet beautiful reality of the Alaskan wilderness. The camera soon becomes a silent confidant to Treadwell's self-obsessed confessions. For one, he sees himself as the singular savior of the wildlife preserve he camps at and the creatures that reside there. But he also sees himself becoming increasingly less connected to the real world he lives in 9 months out of the year. The footage here is most poignant, revealing Treadwell's inner struggles. It paints a picture of a lonely man searching, perhaps desperately, for purpose in a world he feels has rejected him. Most eerily prescient are Treadwell's repeated remarks about how he would die for the bears, though his eventual death does not appear to be the martyrdom he so clearly sought.

This is where the film is most riveting - in Treadwell's footage, focused on the man, the bears, and the force of nature around them. Less compelling are Herzog's talking head interviews with Treadwell's friends and family - although they do help to solve (as much as possible) the puzzle of where Timothy came from, what lead him to the bears, and why he was killed.

It would not be a Herzog film with the director's own philosophical palette framing the story. Herzog's commentary reveals his longstanding view that nature is cruel and that chaos is the constant in our life experience, not harmony. That Treadwell saw beauty and soul in the bears seems to be beside the point, since ultimately their need for sustenance made them turn on their self-appointed protector.

There's no doubt that Timothy Treadwell was insane. Just look at the facts; here was a guy who lived (unarmed) with bears, who referred to himself in the third person (always a sure sign of insanity) and who had a loon for a best friend. But entirely because of that, his story is a fascinating one.

At first, what's so amazing about Treadwell is how camp he is. He has a squeaky little voice, a peculiar obsession with his wispy hair and he's always cooing, "I love you" to his animal 'friends'. It seems remarkable that such a person would survive so long in the wilderness. But fortunately for Treadwell, he's both tough and completely insane. Therefore he has the blind confidence of the deluded – he never really thinks about what he's doing.

Treadwell's lack of real insight is summed up in his life's purpose – he wants to protect the bears. But the forces that he's protecting the bears from are amorphous (poachers and the Park Service). They're never really there. And it's telling that when some strangers finally do turn up, Treadwell can only hide in the bushes and film from afar as the men throw rocks at the bears – he doesn't do much protecting.

But as Treadwell admits, it's more about the bears protecting him. Which, I guess, is ridiculous (and it is), but it's also true. As the film shows us, Treadwell was in all kinds of trouble before he went bear crazy. He lost his scholarship, became a drunk and got involved with criminal elements. Had he kept steering that course, he probably would have wound up getting killed. And although it's darkly comic that his new obsession finally did bring about his death, it did at least provide him with a momentary release.

The film that Treadwell shot is both amusing and sad. It's amusing because Treadwell is such a strange figure, declaring himself a 'kind warrior' and touching bear faeces with an almost orgasmic excitement. But it's sad because Treadwell is so out of touch with reality. For example, he gives all the bears cute little names like 'Mr Chocolate' and 'Rowdy' – he even calls a particularly nasty bear 'The Grinch'. All the time he's trying to humanise them. He desperately wants to be their friend. And although at times Treadwell seems to understand that they're killers, it never truly sinks in that they could kill him. "I will not die at their claws and paws," he says.

Another illuminating moment is when one of his fox friends steals his cap. He seems deeply upset; he seems personally affronted. He just doesn't quite grasp the fact that these are wild animals, that they aren't really his pals. But despite this, Treadwell does capture some wonderful moments on film. There's a fantastic bit where he's in his tent playing with the paws of a fox that come poking through from outside. It's here that you can understand why Treadwell has isolated himself from people. It's innocent moments like this that keep him hanging on to the few marbles he has left rattling about in his brain.

But although Treadwell doesn't really understand nature, Herzog does. In his unmistakable German accent he says he sees no kinship in the bear's eyes: "I only see the overwhelming indifference of nature". Everything between Treadwell and the bears is one sided. The love is only his. To them he's just meat. Or as a helicopter pilot says, maybe the bears just thought he was mentally retarded.

And although the film is a wonderful insight into a crazy mind, and although it's poignant and sad, it's also very funny. And it's some of the peripheral characters who provide the biggest laughs. One moment that sticks in my mind is when Herzog is talking to Treadwell's crazy ex-girlfriend. It could and should have been a moving moment, as Herzog is listening to the tape recording of Treadwell's death, but Treadwell's ex is just so bonkers that I couldn't help but guffaw when she broke into some of the weirdest tears I've ever seen – at first it seems like she's laughing. And then you have Herzog, in his gravest tones, telling her that she must never listen to the tape. And she replies, "I know, Werner." No wonder the scene has been parodied.

And then you have the coroner. He really seems to love the fact that he's in front of the camera and decides to ham it up for everyone. And this actually leads me to my one criticism of the film. There are a few sections that are just too staged – the scene with the watch and the bit in the morgue stand out the most. Herzog is obviously trying to give the film more drama, to break away from the restrictions of a documentary, but the people in the film are over the top enough as it is without them acting it up for the camera. The story really doesn't need any spicing up.

But despite that one criticism, Grizzly Man is a wonderful film. It tells the story of a ridiculous man who probably did more harm that good, but at the same time the story is strangely positive. It offers hope to damaged people. It shows that by finding a purpose in life, you can overcome your problems and find some degree of happiness. I guess the trick is to focus your energies on something less dangerous than man-eating bears.

For 13 summers, animal activist Timothy Treadwell traveled to Alaska to live among and "protect" his most cherished of creatures, the Grizzly bear. During the last 5 of those seasons, he brought video equipment to capture his interactions with the native wildlife. Unfortunately for him and his girlfriend, the number 13 would prove most unlucky as both were eaten by, unsurprisingly- A Grizzly.

Enter filmmaker legend Werner Herzog. With over 100 hours of footage and an immense belief, he gives us "Grizzly Man", a superb documentary far more involved with frail human conditions than anything about nature.

With Treadwell as the main attraction, it couldn't have been any other way. It is truly mind-boggling to witness all the mental/emotional problems colliding and bubbling so, so close to the surface- Exaggerated ego, self-loathing, (possibly) repressed homosexuality, willful ignorance, dangerous hypocrisy, and some form of bi-polar disorder are just some of them.

Here are some pretty good examples:

Throughout the film, Treadwell boasts of unsurpassed expertise and intimacy when dealing with bears, but as it happens, he has NO form of training dealing with wildlife whatsoever. He went from being a wannabe actor with alcohol and drug issues to super-activist almost overnight and with too few questions.

Treadwell repeatedly speaks of his contempt for mankind, yet he somehow manages to endow the bears around him with very human characteristics. Full of delusion, he sees love in cold eyes and takes "Back off dude" gestures as welcoming advances.

20 takes and multiple diatribes, all while mugging for the camera, seriously clouds Treadwell's integrity in several instances. And finally............

If you're going to brag about being the bears "only protector", you really shouldn't do it when you and the animals always reside on a government sponsored preserve. Furthermore, when tourists throw rocks at your "friends" and you hide in the bushes and do nothing about it because you can't "blow your cover", it's time to question your protective abilities.

Believe me, there is MUCH more, but hopefully these will be just enough to grab your interest.

Now as far as Herzog's work goes, it's quite good. He intersperses footage with interviews evenly and keeps things flowing nicely. Admittedly, a large portion of the interviews feel contrived/staged and some footage seems redundant, but on the overall, this a well put together and absorbing package.

In the end, "Grizzly Man" is an excellent viewing experience about a complicated, troubled man-child and his severely misguided endeavors.

(Strangely enough, Treadwell had a far more genuine bond with the foxes of the preserve; they really seemed to care for him and enjoy his company. Maybe if he had focused on them, he'd still be with us.)

I like it when I do know know how to feel! Herzog seems to start out by portraying a man, Timothy Treadwell, as a crazy, self-obsessed (NOT Grizzly-obsessed) individual who gets himself and his girlfriend killed for no purpose, in the Alaskan wilderness. Initially I thought that the story was a cross between 'Jackass' and the Discovery Channel - you have a dopey, though he only sounds like it, blonde surfer type who likes to approach (awfully close) and make sweet-talk with 10-foot bears. Viewers might see Timothy as a reckless, selfish misfit, but as the film continues, your appreciation for his cause deepens - but what is his cause? Is it to work out personal demons? Absolutely. Treadwell clearly has mental/emotional problems, just listen to how many times he tells the wild animals "I love you!" or when he talks about his lack of success with "human women." But his passion for the grizzlies and their wilderness is real. Herzog particularly commends him as a filmmaker, seizing unique opportunities and rendering priceless footage. Do not forget that TT lived close to the bears for 13 years (including the year he was killed) without harm; and that his success, his careful, intuitive, loving behavior was only partly self-aggrandizing.

I have so far resisted peer pressure to watch more than the first episodes of Tiger King, but I can still say with confidence that Grizzly Man is vastly superior.

It's truly incredible the amount of empathy Herzog is able to generate for such a misguided, kooky person. It's all the more impressive to see the contrast between Timothy Treadwell's sentimentalized view of nature with Herzog's (and my, for that matter) view that nature is indifferent and chaotic. To mix these two contrasting philosophies with what are, in some sense, two different films--Treadwell's footage and Herzog's narration and interviews--make for something truly moving and insightful.