DVD, 2006

Dir: Werner Herzog

(Madman, M)

James Foster

Have you ever dreamed of leaving civilisation and its unquenchable thirst for progress? Where would you go? Perhaps it would be inwards to a world of private fantasy, or perhaps out into the stark and discordant natural world, uncaring and unaffected by your intrusion. For Timothy Treadwell, the subject of the new documentary Grizzly Man, his attempt to make stark nature become his fantasy world cost both him and his girlfriend their lives.

Made by experienced German filmmaker Werner Herzog, Grizzly Man essentially hinges on Timothy Treadwell’s own video footage. Self-styled as an amateur bear expert and protector of the grizzly bear population on the Alaskan peninsula, Treadwell shot around 100 hours of footage documenting the lives of the bears he lived among. It is this footage that Werner Herzog uses to weave an absorbing but tragic story and give us insight into Treadwell’s life. While the main thrust of Treadwell’s preservation work was in presenting his work to school children, as the story unfolds we see the truth: Timothy believes his true happiness lies in this non-human world and his destiny to preserve it from the taint of modern civilisation. Ironically, Treadwell is re-creating the truth into his own fantasy, just as a director does with his actors – the difference is: Timothy is both.

The documentary itself provides its own commentary on Treadwell, on his life path and on the truth of his claims as the bears’ protector; I’ll let Herzog’s eloquent words speak for themselves. Thankfully Herzog’s interviews of Treadwell’s friends and enemies provide enough perspectives to allow us to make up our own minds. For me this film was intriguing (and even disturbing) because of Treadwell’s innocent charisma. It is easy to view him as more than a bit eccentric as he chases uncaring grizzly bears (capable of ripping his head off with one lazy swipe) pleadingly repeating “I love you, I love you.” But he represents for me something universal, the ever-playful child that refuses to accept the disapproval of adults. Even his rather horrific (but unseen) death at the hands of a ‘beloved’ bear speaks of his innocent trust in nature. I recommend this doco for its emotional depth and insight that breaks so gently and surprisingly on the viewer.