I love movies. I wish I could write more about them in depth but i simply don't have time. I feel compelled to write in depth about the documentary GRIZZLY MAN because I’m so conflicted over it.
It’s a documentary by Werner Herzog about Timothy Treadwell, the man who lived among grizzly bears for thirteen summers until he and his girlfriend were killed and eaten by one. I’m not sure what Timothy’s exact title was, I know he wasn’t a scientist so I guess you could say he was a naturalist or enironmentalist. He considered himself savior and protector of the grizzly bears. I remember when I first heard about this it seemed unbelievable. A man who wanted to protect the grizzlies was killed and eaten by one, and worse his girlfriend was with him. What was more horrific was that when the bear approached the camp Timothy yelled at his girlfriend to get the camera and she was in the tent with the camera while he was being killed. She had not taken the lens cap off so the whole event was recorded on audio and after she watched the bear kill and eat Timothy it came for her (this info i got from an article in OUTSIDE magazine several years ago). The girlfriend's family declined to participate in the making of the documentary.
I am conflicted about this movie because I can see what his intentions were and I can appreciate what it takes to not have a life and spend the majority of your time worried about the environment and protection of species and our natural resources; but I'm not sure I could support how he went about it. As a person who is dedicated to protecting and studying wildlife I applaud his efforts, no matter how misdirected. As someone who has completely changed career paths (and I had one before this, unlike Tim) I understand the pull of the natural world and the need to study and protect it. I may have experienced the same kind of epiphany, the same kind of inner spiritual awakening with nature at a late age like Tim did through a completely amazing experience, but we took completely different paths afterwards. I decided the best way to protect nature was to become a scientist, to have the skills to gather the information and the credibility to make changes based upon my findings.
I am jealous that somehow he escaped the confines of the bureaucracy of the university or other research institution where you were accountable for the safety of yourself and everyone else on your expedition. You were also accountable for the expertise of everyone on your expedition. There are many that can point at bean counters and say they are inhibiting research with all their concern about the bottom line and to protect themselves from any liability. And at times I may be one of them to point that finger. I get frustrated by the scrutiny I have to go through to get my project approved. It is a tediously paper heavy process and as much teeth gnashing and logistics explained it seems never enough. I was assured it was about everybody’s safety. Afterwards I was convinced it was just about covering their asses. Not one person on the safety board that took three months to approve my plan bothered to follow up to see if I was even alive, let alone accomplished what I set out to do (which I had) after my three months in the field. So, yes, I envy his ability to just go without seemingly dealing with a pile of bureaucracy, but I think that even without the safety board hovering over my project I wouldn’t have shown a blatant disregard for the safety of the people with me.
The documentary itself is stunning. Herzog narrates and interviews people who knew Timothy. Timothy spent 13 summers in Alaska with the bears and then took along a very nice set of video equipment the last five so Herzog includes clips from the over 100 hours of footage Timothy shot.
Herzog says in the beginning: “I discovered a film of human ecstasies and darkest inner turmoil. As if there was a desire in him to leave the confinements of his humanness and bond with the bears, Treadwell reached out, seeking a primordial encounter. But in doing so, he crossed an invisible borderline.” I couldn’t agree more. He filmed the bears and he filmed himself with the bears. He constantly talked on film about his ability to evade death. How these powerful bears could easily kill him but won’t because he doesn’t show them weakness, that he is formidable.
It’s never really clear what Timothy does for a living when he’s not with the bears or how he funds his trips, food or equipment. There is a mention later in the film about a non-profit he helped form but I don’t know how that could support him. The film shows some still-shots of Timothy in schools with young children, talking and showing them movies and pictures of the bears. Herzog says he never asked for a fee. There’s also clips of him on what appears to be 60 minutes or 20/20. considering the women that are interviewed for the documentary, i wouldn't doubt if they were his benefactors, relying on his charisma to garner their hospitality when he wasn't in alaska.
“It was as if he had become a star of his own invention.” Herzog says.
As the camera pans from a plane over the landscape, Herzog narrates: “Treadwell saw himself as the guardian of this land and stylized himself as Prince Valiant, fighting the bad guys with their schemes to do harm to the bears. But all this land is a federally protected reserve, part of Katmai National Park.” Even though there is no hint of sarcasm in Herzog’s voice, I laughed a little when he said that; it seemed to point at Timothy’s loose grasp on what his function was there. If he really wanted to protect the bears, why not go to an area where they have no federal protection? I felt guilty a week later for thinking that because I heard an interview on NPR about how no bears were poached when Timothy stayed with them and at least six have been since his death. So he was obviously serving some purpose up there. Even though I feel some of it was a wasted opportunity to collect actual data about the bears, their life history, their behavior. and i think that is what kills me the most. the footage is incredible when he's not inserting himself into it and could be a valuable resource to understanding bear behavior and habitat usage but to be up there that whole time and not collect any kind of standardized data seems like such a waste on behalf of the bears.
The pilot that transported Timothy every year tells about finding Tim’s camp after the bear had killed and eaten both Tim and his girlfriend. He buzzed the camp in order to get the bear away from their bodies and then radioed for help. The bear was shot and killed and parts of Timothy were found inside. The pilot said: “the tough thing about this is that Tim would have never wanted to see any bears killed. Even if they had killed him, he would’ve been happy if nobody found him.”
While watching the footage that Timothy shot of himself with the bears I couldn’t decide if he was brave or delusional. He usually shoots himself off to one side while the bears are in the center behind him. He is obviously using a tripod in these shots and on more than one occasion he has done several “takes” of a scene he is shooting. In one such shot the bear approaches him and he acts aggressive towards the bear to get it to back off, admonishing it “Don’t you do that! Don’t you do that!” and as the bear backs off he squats down and in a voice one would use to talk to a pet says “I’m sorry. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.” In that moment I lost a lot of respect for him. At that moment I thought his talk of death and how brave he was on camera only served to make him seem more important in his own films and that he didn’t really grasp that he was in danger.
As much as I love sharks, I am cognizant of the fact that if they are hungry enough or I provoke them or I’m mistaken for prey in murky water, I am most definitely food. It’s like Timothy didn’t realize he was a potential food source to these bears because most of the years he was there he was there during the times of highest food availability for the bears and of no more interest to the bears than a fox or a bird would be to them. In fact, the bear that killed him was a late season bear (Timothy was never there that late in the season before) and was very gaunt and seemingly somewhat desperate for food.
it reminded me of a saying: expecting life to be kind to you is like asking a bull not to gore you because you're a vegetarian
you're ignoring the nature of the beast.
The film also includes a segment with the medical examiner talking about what remained of them and his interpretation of the events from the video camera. Herzog listens to the audio of the attack as well and tells Jewel, the woman who Timothy left all his belongings to, she must never listen to that tape nor see the photos at the coroner’s office. Herzog said in an interview that he chose purposely not to include the audio of the attack in his film, because then his documentary would just be a snuff film. And that’s not what he wanted.
In spite of not completely agreeing with Treadwell’s methods, what I wouldn’t give to have a similar experience in which I am able to capture such amazing images. The footage he shot is absolutely gorgeous. Even Herzog who has worked making wildlife films is in awe of Timothy’s footage and access.
I may not agree with Timothy's methods, but I definitely think it’s a film worth seeing.
