Review of Grizzly Man (2005) by Heather R — 21 Jun 2009

This stunning exploration of humanity in nature is one of the strongest examples of truth being far stranger, and far more interesting, then fiction. The titular 'Grizzly Man' Timothy Treadwell is an incredibly fascinating character whose sheer absurdity is as entrancing as the beasts themselves. Treadwell feels as if he is from another world and the sense of wonder that comes along with that coincides exactly with that wonder inherent in seeing some fantastic animal or sublime scenery in any other nature documentary.

Herzog manages to perfectly tease out Timothy's story and persona throughout the piece, simply letting the unfiltered footage of the man show us his traits without imposing too much personal judgement. It is hard to accurately assess Treadwell because although we are given some historical context from outside sources we are really only shown his view. He speaks so highly of his great works defending the creatures from the evil poachers but never do we see him actually intervene and in fact it's questionable that the other humans were poachers at all.

This self delusion also extends outwards to the animals themselves. Treadwell speaks so highly of them and the bond that only they share, yet the animals seem apathetic towards him at best often flinching at his advance. These delusions surely stem from some sort of illness or trauma, drugs and closeted homosexuality appear as prominent candidates, but end up being as hilarious as they are tragic.

It could be argued that this is an exploitative film, that Herzog is taking advantage of this man's delusions, I however do not believe that to be true. It seems as if Herzog has found in Treadwell a kindred spirit and although he does not shy away from showing a complete and thus flawed vision of the man he does treat him with respect. There is a definite empathy in his narration and never scorn.

This is a very satisfying film; it is exciting,entertaining, subtle, psychological and original, but it does feel like we are only shown the surface of what may be one of the most interesting men to have ever lived.