#119: Grizzly Man

Release Date: August 12th, 2005

Format: Streaming (Tubi)

Written by: Werner Herzog

Directed by: Werner Herzog

4 Stars

20 years ago I saw Grizzly Man because it was about a man who captured himself on camera being attacked, killed, and eaten by a grizzly bear. It’s undoubtedly a terrible, and terribly interesting, subject for a documentary. 

But the reason I’ve seen the film a dozen times since is because of the insightful, probing examination of Timothy Treadwell by writer/director Werner Herzog.

Seemingly kindred spirits - dreamers, iconoclasts, outdoorsmen - Herzog ultimately believes that he and Treadwell are complete opposites on a fundamental level: Timothy Treadwell sees himself as an anointed warrior for goodness in a benevolent natural world; Herzog’s natural world is ambivalently violent and unforgiving, in which he is nothing more than a participant. As much admiration as Herzog has for Treadwell’s individualism and bravery, the documentary’s thesis is that there is very little common ground between the two men philosophically.

But Herzog’s examination of Treadwell is fascinating, nonetheless. Using mostly Treadwell’s own footage of himself in the Alaskan wilderness, Herzog shows the man to be a mass of contradictions. He is sensitive, but angry. He hates society, but wants fame. He is charismatic, yet troublingly odd. He is deadly serious, but so, so funny. 

Really funny. After seeing the movie a dozen times, my hat is off to Herzog for allowing humor to be such a large part of Treadwell’s story. This is not some overly dour film essay. Watch Treadwell chase a fox to try and get his baseball cap back, or stream obscenities together in one of his on-camera monologues, and you’ll be crying laughing. At least I was.

It’s this multifaceted, honest examination of Timothy Treadwell that makes Grizzly Man a documentary classic, much more so than the novelty of how he died. As misguided as the man was, Herzog shows that the world was a better place with him in it.