Review of Grizzly Man (2005) by Justin S — 08 Apr 2012

Grizzly Man documents the work of Timothy Treadwell, a bear aficionado who would venture out into the wild and film bears doing bear things, getting up close with these creatures, spending long periods of time living along side them, and then eventually was killed by one in the wild. The film is a very personal look into who he was and is mostly his self made footage from out in the wild coupled with interviews with friends and loved ones. The entire movie is narrated by the director, Werner Herzog, who provides his take on Timothyâ(TM)s work, which was a bit controversial since many believe he was doing more harm than good in his efforts to protect the bears.

Seeing the clips from Timothy Treadwellâ(TM)s footage is a very haunting experience. The very beginning of the film is him talking to the camera about the likelihood of being killed, and on more than one occasion this topic resurfaces. If I had to describe how I perceived Timothy based on the clips from this film, I would probably use the word crazy. But the movie does a great job of communicating the passion he had for these animals, for being out in the wild, and for protecting the things he loved. Some of the clips are scary, some are strange, and some are disturbing but overall what we are provided with is a beautiful portrait of this man who might not have been perfect, but he did find something in life that he loved so much that even with all of the insanity of what he was doing I could still relate to the fact that he loved these animals and this hobby of his.

Everything about this documentary is really well done, the interviews add depth to Timothyâ(TM)s character, the clips give us an insight into his world that is truly special, and the movie does a great job of having Timothyâ(TM)s filming style in the clips translate over to the interviews so that everything feels symbiotic. At one point, Herzog mentions how Timothy would leave the camera rolling and how even when nothing was happening still there was a beauty being captured. Then in the interviews, Herzog leaves the camera rolling long after people answer his questions and you get to see them react to the stillness, and the silence that follows their answers. Itâ(TM)s a strange, special thing.

Timothyâ(TM)s movie making is great and captures some amazing moments in the wild. Itâ(TM)s often breathtaking to see how close he gets to these bears and how relaxed he is even when they are getting slightly confrontational. Bears are very majestic and that is captured effectively by Timothy, but also knowing the outcome of his story it is frightening to see these creatures approach him and you keep waiting for one to maul him. Luckily, there was no video footage of Timothyâ(TM)s death, but watching the director listen to the audio from that moment is probably one of the most powerful scenes in the film.

This is a fantastic documentary on the life of Timothy Treadwell and his passion for bears. Iâ(TM)d have to say that in the end I had very mixed opinions on the things Timothy was doing but the movie itself is great and serves the purpose of putting the story out there. The whole thing felt like a labor of love and was really very touching and felt special, like being allowed to watch someones soul. While Timothy was bear watching, I was soul watching. Yeah, thatâ(TM)s a good description of what it felt like.