Grizzly Man

Day 13/192-Grizzly Man: Starring Timothy Treadwater and Werner Herzog

Sorry to anyone who actually reads this, I've been at T in the Park so have got some catching up to do. The catching up began last night with 2005 documentary Grizzly Man, a look at Timothy Treadwater, who was so fed up with the disappointment of his own life and filled with anger at humankind that he spent months at a time studying bears on an island in Alaska. The resulting documentary is heartbreaking, beautiful and devastating in equal measures.

One of the first things we learn while watching is that Timothy and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard were killed in 2003 after an expedition went wrong. We are then given the different viewpoints of many of the people involved in his trips concerning the morality of Timothy's actions and his own mental state.

The story is sort of two-pronged. There is Timothy's story, where we learn about his unhappy life, struggles with drugs and alcohol and a failed attempt at an acting career that lead him to start his expeditions and his growing obsession with the bears and foxes in what he calls the Grizzly Maze. Then there is the other story of how he behaved in an unacceptable manner, breaking down boundaries with dangerous animals and which eventually cost him his life and that of his girlfriend Amie. Or maybe it is all the same story and it just depends on how you read it.



The only negative thing I could find to say about this film is that Herzog's input, though at times interesting, is sometimes superfluous. As a human story about an unhappy and emotionally unstable man it is beautiful, but when Herzog adds in information about the similarities between him and Treadwater in their film-making exploits, it becomes more about the two of them and less about our relationship with Timothy.

Everyone who contributes to this film obviously cares deeply about the subject matter and when that is combined with a unique and interesting story, with a brilliantly entertaining protagonist, it is easy to give yourself over to Timothy completely and as he begins to lose it (particularly in one scene where a fox steals his hat) though his actions and motives are very unsavoury, his enthusiasm is always prevalent, though misplaced.



Grizzly Man is made in such a way that you can leave with your own thoughts on Timothy Treadwater and his descent into what some have called "suicide by bear." It is thought-provoking and emotionally-involving and one you will be thinking of long after it is finished.

8/10