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Grizzly Man (2005)
Review
Grizzly Man, directed and narrated by Werner Herzog, is a must see. It doesn't appear to be playing widely, but wherever you have to haul arse to find it, GO! First, the footage is *amazing.* Slap your hand over your mouth, hold your breath, talk to the screen in disbelief amazing. Timothy Treadwell spent 13 summers in Katmai National Park living among the grizzly bears and other critters (most notably the foxes, who are delightful - so much so that I give them human grammatical treatment here). He knows each bear individually, and he knows bears. Combined with the fact that he's totally unhinged and thinks he's one of them, this enables him to get incredible moments on film.
Second, the movie is a fascinating piece of artwork. Treadwell is very much the main character even in his own footage - he's a cross between the Crocodile Hunter and Marty Stouffer from Wild America. There's no attempt on his part to create a straight documentary, no attempt to maintain the illusion of the fourth wall or journalistic distance/invisibility. He's right there, in your face, in the bears' faces, treating the camera at times like a soapbox, a confessional, a therapist's couch, or a companion. In some rare moments, he seems to almost forget he's toting the camera, and though the footage then tends to be a bit Blair Witchy, it's also the least contrived and therefore among the most engaging.
Herzog, too, makes no effort to uphold the sanctity of the fourth wall. He is both audience and narrator, commenting on Treadwell as much as the contents of Treadwell's tapes. In a break from traditional (think March of the Penguins-style) narration, he actually appears on camera conducting interviews, firmly affixing a face to the (judgemental but, I thought, dead-on) voice. It's thrilling that in this film, we *are* supposed to pay attention to the man behind the curtain.
Finally, and this is far and away the most interesting aspect of the movie, Timothy Treadwell is clearly not a sane and healthy man. He is passionate, he has a deeply felt sense of conscience, and he is madly in love with these bears. He tells the camera over and over again that his work is dangerous, putting him constantly in harm's way, and that the bears are wild animals and can maim, kill, decapitate (he seems oddly fixated on their ability to decapitate), and otherwise hurt people. The problem is, he's like the guy at the doors to the fun house who cackles, "You may not come out alive!" just as you enter - it makes the ride scarier, but no one actually believes it for a minute, as Treadwell seems not to believe that he could meet his end at the paws of a bear.
Nonetheless, Treadwell does seem to know he's not altogether alright, acknowledging to the camera that he's unable to cope with the world of people. In moments such as the one when he bends down to touch a steaming mound of you-know-what straight from his favorite bear's behind, he notes the weirdness of his actions, but it's as if he knows no other way. He's compelled.
And he does, despite his protestations, believe he is a bear. He gives each animal a name, following their growth and maturation year after year. He swims with them, stands them off in conflicts, gives them post-fight pep-talks about girls and judging the enemy, and grieves their deaths. He re-builds a stream bed to encourage the salmon to run, and when that doesn't work, demands that God bring rain so that his bears can eat. He is stupidly fearless, expecting his bear totem to bail him out or to give him some kind of magical power of kinship with these terrifying and beautiful animals. He sees them as his protector, and he as theirs.
In the end (and I spoil nothing by telling you this - it's the whole reason the film was made), he and his girlfriend get eaten alive. Bless Herzog's soul, he suggests that the tape of their grizzly end be permanently destroyed, and refuses to air it. It's only audio, as Treadwell's video camera was apparently running, but with the lens cap on. Hard to believe, but I'll forego the proof of hearing the tape myself. Its contents are recapped graphically enough by Treadwell's friends and those involved in his case after his death.
Grizzly Man is a rare gem, a nature documentary that examines the human animal as it struggles for survival. Treadwell is nuts, but he's also strangely admirable. Sadly, as Herzog notes by the blank stares Treadwell captures brilliantly over and over, the bears don't love him back.