Grizzly Man
(2005)
Dir. Werner Herzog
Timothy Treadwell was sort of a flamboyant combination of Mr. Rogers, Grizzly Adams and Rip Taylor. After a listless young adulthood spent binge drinking and auditioning for television roles in California, Treadwell moved to the middle of Alaska to live amongst, study and, as he puts it, “protect” grizzly bears. As one would suspect, Treadwell was eventually eaten by a bear--along with his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard--but what’s remarkable is that for several years he had intimate access to bears and seemed to be coexisting with them. Even more astounding, the bear that attacked him wasn’t one of the bears he was “friends” with. His bears were hibernating. Treadwell had returned to Alaska unexpectedly--after a tussle with a fat woman at the airport--and was attempting to study an altogether different set of bears.
Grizzly Man, a documentary by iconoclast, Werner Herzog, culls footage that Treadwell shot of himself and the bears along with interviews with colleagues, family, friends and the medical examiner who studied Treadwell and Huguenard’s remains. Herzog narrates intermittently, but for the most part he lets Treadwell speak for himself. Most of his time in the wilderness was spent alone, or rather without any other human interaction, so Treadwell talked to his video camera in a hauntingly personal way. He would have been the first to admit that all he had in life were his bears, who would frequently come within a few feet of him, and some foxes who slept on and around his tent.
Treadwell had an undeniable gift for communicating with wild beasts which is surprising considering that when he spoke to them, and about them, he sounded like an interior decorator gushing over new curtains.
“I love you! You’re so beautiful!” he says to one of his fox friends, “You’re my star! You’re the star for all the children!”
Treadwell wasn’t the most brilliant naturalist and his actions weren’t necessarily appreciated by everyone in the bear-studying community. Many thought that by gaining the bears’ trust he was eroding their natural caution toward humans and thusly putting them at increased risk. While Herzog clearly respects Treadwell, he too has differences of opinion with him. At one point, as Treadwell laments to his camera about the death of a cub that was killed by another bear, Herzog interjects, saying that he disagrees with Treadwell’s idea that the key force in nature is harmony. Herzog says that he thinks it’s chaos. Later in the film as Treadwell goes on an extended rant directed towards the government’s wildlife services, Herzog pops in and out to address the origin’s of Treadwell’s rage. Meanwhile Treadwell screams, “Fuck you!” and prances about waving his middle finger, only to leave the frame, make another entrance, and start his rant over again; conceivably in refined form. Regardless of his merit as a biologist, Treadwell shot some absolutely stunning footage of bears in action; a fight between two males arguably the most stirring of its kind.
Herzog’s ultimate accordance of respect comes when he is presented with the audio record of the bear attacking Treadwell and his girlfriend. Treadwell’s video camera was on at the time of the attack--though the lens cap was in place. Jewel Palovak, Treadwell’s friend and cofounder of Grizzly People, a non-profit organization designed to protect bears, is in possession of the tape. We see Herzog listening to the recording through headphones while Palovak watches--having never listened to it herself. When it is through, a devastated Herzog tells her to destroy the tape and that under no circumstances should she ever listen to it. Most directors working today would have regarded the recording of the attack as the money shot. Herzog knows better, and his film effortlessly transcends sensationalism.
A quick glance at Herzog’s oeuvre makes it clear that he has a grand affinity for weirdoes--can I get a Klaus Kinski--and with that affinity Herzog has honed the ability to paint grand pictures of the more stalwart weirdoes remaining true to their themselves in a world corrupted by fantasy.
