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August 24, 2005

Grizzly Man, the anti-March of the Penguins

The authors of March of the Penguins and Timothy Treadwell, the ill-fated subject of the movie Grizzly Man, seem to have viewed nature with the same rose-colored glasses.

While Penguins' narration told us how difficult it is for penguin parents to leave their babies and what joy the family unit (which stays a unit for all of 1 summer) gets from being together, Treadwell idealized the bears and foxes of Alaska into a fantasy of universal oneness in which a human could live peacefully with such wild animals.

And if the March of the Penguins filmmakers were a little less than honest about things like parents abandoning babies and mates, you might say Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man's greatest strength is its honesty. It is an honest account of Treadwell, including both friendly and antagonistic viewpoints on his life and death. And, most of all, it is an honest portrayal of bears as wild animals, "indifferent" machines that eat to live.

It would be impossible for it not to be, since its subject is Timothy Treadwell, who lived among the bears of the Alaskan peninsula every summer for 13 years, videotaping them and proselytizing for conservation, until one of the bears brutally killed him (and his girlfriend) and, yes, ate him. This fact alone fills every shot of Treadwell with the bears with dread and morbid fascination.

And there are many shots, because Treadwell recorded hundreds of hours of himself with the bears, speaking into the camera to tell the viewer how dangerous the bears were and how any wrong move could spell his death. It is fascinating to watch, because it is clear that Treadwell understood the danger and even shows fear at times when a bear makes an aggressive move in his direction, but at the same time, seems to think himself free of all danger. His death was surely due to hubris, years of survival among the bears making him feel closer and closer to being a bear himself, an accepted member of their family, and above danger.

The movie Grizzly Man is doubly fascinating because it not only explores the world of the grizzly bear (with incredible footage left by Treadwell himself) but also the man Treadwell, who Herzog discovered to be an equally rich subject.

Although I would have liked to see even more about Treadwell's past, Herzog does ponder his inner demons, his relationships, even his sexuality, and most importantly, what would cause a person to camp by himself, in mortal danger in the wilderness, every summer for 13 years.

It becomes clear that Treadwell was a disturbed individual, but at the same time, it seems that his life only took on meaning after he found the bears. And whether or not he was insane or stupid to let himself (and his girlfriend) be killed the way he was, it does not seem tragic at all. I don't know how much good he did for the conservation movement, but it is safe to say that Treadwell himself (and Herzog) feels the bears "saved" him, just as if he'd found Jesus.

As for me, I am scared in retrospect for having gotten with 200 yards of a grizzly at Sequoia National Park, and I highly recommend this film.

Posted by JoshHornik at August 24, 2005 05:48 PM

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Posted by: Lauri at August 24, 2005 07:12 PM

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