Movie Review (DVD): Grizzly Man

Grizzly Man (DVD)

I'd heard, at least peripherally, about Grizzly Man when it was first released. I had little interest in it, though, until a friend of mine rented the DVD and raved about it. That, in a nutshell, is how I ended up in front of my TV one evening last week to watch the documentary for myself.

Grizzly Man refers to an activist by the name of Timothy Treadwell who became famous for spending his summers camping with the grizzly bears in a remote part of Alaska. During his summers alone, he captured some astounding video tape of the bears in their day-to-day lives. From the playful gamboling of cubs to fights for dominance; from the desperate search for enough food to gear up for hibernation to lazy naps in the sun, Treadwell got it all on tape. He also recorded his own comments from positions both behind and in front of the cameras, some of which were exeedingly blunt.

Perhaps Treadwell's primary claim to fame was less the information he gathered about the bears than his attitude toward them. While other biologists take a more documentary stance, Treadwell named all of the bears he spent time with and often talked to them as if they were his children. He never carried weapons, and in fact took note on camera that no other human had lived so long with the grizzlies without such protection. At the end of his thirteenth summer living with and watching the grizzlies — in fact, on the night before he was due to return to civilization for the winter — the 46 year-old Treadwell and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard (who kept him company for a portion of that summer) were killed and eaten by a grizzly.

Filmmaker Werner Herzog obtained literally hundreds of hours of Treadwell's video tape. Armed with that overabundance of material, Herzog edited the film and spliced it together with interviews of the coronor who examied the bodies of Treadwell and Huguenard; the pilot who discovered the tragedy at the camp site; Treadwell's friends and familiy; and a wildlife biologist with an expertise in bears. Accompanied by Herzog's narration, Grizzly Man does little to describe how it was that Treadwell began his relationship with the grizzlies, but conveys in depth his commitment and experiences of the last dozen or so years of his life.

The unique insight into the lives of the bears offered by the film is fascinating. In an entirely different way, so, too, is the revealing look at Treadwell himself. As the film moves closer to the time of Treadwell's death, it's painfully obvious that his love is turning to obsession, and his bellwether warnings becoming an all consuming paranoia. His motives are unquestionable. His actions, however, are another story entirely.

After its release last year, Grizzly Man won numerous Film Critics Association awards for Best Documentary and/or Best Non-Fiction Film (Chicago, Los Angeles, and the National Society of Film Critics among them). It also captured the Sundance Film Festival's Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film award. While I'm not as enamored with the movie as was my friend, I did find myself caught up in the story and can't argue with the various honors it's received.

The footage of the Alaska scenery and the bears themselves is just wonderful. Treadwell's befriending of a family of foxes offers a little comic relief and some truly touching moments. Meanwhile, the unfortunate end to the story is, in some ways, less about Treadwell's death than it is his obvious descent into a state of mind that will cause many to question his life.

For those interested in the magnificent grizzlies, Grizzly Man offers a look into their habitat and habits not offered elsewhere. But at the same time, the glimpses into the psyche of the troubled Treadwell (not to mention his questionable technique of getting much too close — both physically and emotionally — to the objects of his study) append an unfortunate coda to both the movie and a man's life.

POLITICAL NOTES: Treadwell is, shall we say, less than impressed with government efforts to protect grizzly bears. He has a point. Though the area remains remote, tourism is gaining in popularity, and poachers are often a problem. Traditionally, while some claim government protective measures to be successful, they've often caused more problems than they've solved (the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park is an example). After learning so much more about Alaska's grizzly population, it would be a terrible shame if something comparable were to happen there, and the more direct government involvement is increased, the more likely it is to happen.

Timothy Treadwell founded an activist group he called Grizzly People. For more on Treadwell's work and the ongoing efforts of the group to preserve grizzly habitat and protect the bears, visit the Grizzly People web site.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: Grizzly Man is rated R for "language." The language is, indeed, rough, but the average 13 year-old hears that sort of talk on a consistent basis. Despite the violent subject matter of the film (Treadwell's death), there's no onscreen blood or gore; though an audio recording of the last moments of the couple's lives does exist, you don't hear it here. Grizzly Man isn't a film like The March of the Penguins where even the littlest ones can learn and appreciate a wild animal, but at the same time, I can't condone an R rating.