FILM CHALLENGE: 29) Grizzly Man

29) Grizzly Man

Director: Werner Herzog

Year: 2005

Plot Summary: Amateur grizzly bear expert Timothy Treadwell periodically journeyed to Alaska to study and live with the bears. In October 2003, however, he was killed, along with his his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, by a rogue bear.

Timothy Treadwell is someone you would immediately dismiss as insane. After all, who in their right mind would choose to live in the wild with one of the most dangerous species of animals that exits? However, Werner Herzog's documentary really looks into the inner turmoil of this man and gives us a fascinating insight into why he lived like this.

It's hard to imagine the film in anyone's hands other than Werner Herzog. While anyone else might see simply humour or horror in Treadwell's footage, he does a brilliant job of reading between the lines and exploring his true nature.

In much of the footage that Herzog has been able to acquire, Treadwell treats these bears like toys. He gives them names like 'The Grinch' and 'Mr. Chocolate' and when they attack him shouts "It's okay, I love you!" In many ways, scenes like this show him as a naive, child-like individual who seems to lack the ability to see how harmful these grizzly bears are. However, some scenes also suggest that he wanted to become a bear or even create this persona of a lone guardian of these animals, recreating himself into a strong, tough hero in contrast to who he really was. Even one interviewer suggests there was something religious about his journeys.

Whoever you believe Timothy Treadwell was and whatever your thoughts about what he did are, it's hard not to be engrossed by him. If you're interested in psychology then Grizzly Man is an absolute must see, but even if you aren't, his footage is heartbreaking, beautiful, shocking, funny, tragic and disturbing nonetheless.

This aforementioned footage, it's stated, was over 100 hours long. Yet Herzog wonderfully whittles it all down to a feature length running time, if you include interviews with his family, friends and colleagues, without losing any important aspects of who Timothy was. Even these interviews show just how talented the director is as the conversations utterly mesmerising and emotional.

Not only is Grizzly Man one of the best documentaries ever made, but it's also one of the best films of the noughties. It's also visual proof that documentaries should be legible for the Academy Awards' Best Picture as it was miles ahead of any other film released that year.

5/5

By Daniel Sarath with 2 comments