Grizzly Man
Grizzly Man (2005) 8/10
Haunting, uncompromising and utterly mesmerizing, Grizzly Man is hands down the best documentary of 2005, if not the best documentary in the last 5 years. March of the Penguins is for wimps, Grizzly Man is the real deal.
While that 800 pound, CGI generated gorilla called Kong is ruling the box office, it is instead the bona fide Grizzly Bears of the Alaskan peninsula that deserves your time. The last time any documentary made it into my Top 100 lists was 2003’s Capturing the Friedmans, a film which has since been pushed off by the inculsion of better films. This is also probably the first time that a documentary has made it to my top 10 films of the year list, no easy feat considering the pedigree of this year’s crop of movies.
Grizzly Man is ostensibly a documentary about the Grizzly Bears of Alaska, but its main character is Timothy Treadwell, an enigmatic character. He seems to be purposeful, someone who has found his passion in life. He has that immense zeal, fanatical perhaps but one cannot deny the sense that he seems to truly be living each day. When he was with the bears, he is truly alive, in every sense of the word.
Yet, there is also a darker side. Through deeply personal monologues and interviews with those who knew him, Herzog reveals the eccentric side of Timothy. A side which is plagued by an alcoholic past and hints at the psychiatric problems of Timothy. While there is a certain admiration for his ideals, Herzog makes it clear that he does not necessarily approve of his ways.
There are moments of sheer beauty in Timothy’s footage, with the the knowledge of his death giving the film an almost tragic undercurrent. This is footage that no CGI could hope to replicate- sincere, raw and at time achingly beautiful. And the tension, yes tension whenever Tim comes to close contact with the bears. Unlike conventional films , this is unscripted and the danger is real. Just as you are overawed by the majesty of nature, you are likewise amazed by Tim’s foolhardiness. This, Tim admits as much, conceding that he does things that are akin to dicing with death, yet with a certain arrogance, or is it belief that he will be able to survive.
The friendship between Tim and the bears as well as a fox- is it truly an emotional bond or merely a madman’s illusions of grandeur?
The magic of the film is in Tim’s footage, and Herzog could have made it stronger if he scaled down on the amount of non-Tim footage. The scene with the coroner seemed over the top, while another one with the watch that Tim wore seems overtly manipulative.
Ultimately, Grizzly Man is a triumph, with its voyeuristic (and no doubt some will say exploitative) look at Treadwell and his life in the Alaskan wilderness.
