Reviews

"Grizzly Man" details the life and events of Timothy Treadwell, a 40+ year old man who lived for thirteen summers in Alaska among grizzly bears. Directed by the great German director Werner Herzog, this film reflects Herzog's perspective almost as much as it does Treadwell's. Herzog tells the story by piecing together footage Treadwell filmed during his period of living among the bears.

What comes across is a peculiar and riveting character study. Treadwell's personality reflects itself in extremes. One piece of footage shows him in a lengthy profanity-laden outburst about rapacious human nature, while another bit shows him bubbling in tenderness about a piece of bear excrement that has "just been inside" a particular bear Treadwell is familiar with. Treadwell comes across as a well-meaning but complex poseur who, despite his friends' claims that he "knew the danger" of the bears, seems not to have accepted that the danger was really -- well -- danger!

This movie is a very fascinating and tragic study whose effects linger long after the film ends. It leaves us with lots of questions about how we view nature. The only change that Herzog perhaps should have made was that the film might have been more accurately titled "Grizzly Dude" than "Grizzly Man."

This is a pleasant and entertaining movie, with a good atmosphere. Some of the gags in it are forced, but the cast pulls it off with a good bit of aplomb, and the movie captures a lot of the good spirit of the late-50s and early-60s. It is also a good example of early Blake Edwards.

My family saw it at a drive-in movie. The scene that struck us most was a particularly amusing profile of a man caught in a "compromising position" during the school's drive to collect lumber for the school bonfire.

This film is probably pretty dated now, but is a good nostalgia piece, and a good vehicle for Bing Crosby.