At a Glance

Werner Herzog's persistent inquiry into the motivations of human obsession focuses this time on the self-proclaimed kind warrior Timothy Treadwell. A passionate wildlife preservationist and grizzly bear devotee, Treadwell lived unarmed among the grizzlies in a remote section of Alaska for 13 years, and eventually died in a bear attack. He filmed his experiences during his final five years, and Herzog makes use of this footage in a posthumous portrait of a complex, intriguing character. A youthful blond actor turned nature lover, Treadwell is revealed over the course of the film to have been a troubled soul who found solace in the wild, and the existential questions and difficulties he faced in the world were, fascinatingly, worked out on film. Deftly interweaving Treadwell's quiet moments of nature appreciation with meandering introspection and alarmingly hostile rants, Herzog masterfully captures the enigma of the dead man. Herzog has a genuine appreciation of Treadwell's films, as well as sympathy for Treadwell's apparent ill peace with the world. Much of GRIZZLY MAN's complexity comes in our growing awareness of Timothy's apparent naivety, his need to see himself as a saviour, and his sentimentalising of nature. However, we are left with the impression of someone unafraid to follow his heart and go to any extreme even death in search of peace.