This documentary was made by the well-known Werner Herzog, who is known for making very well put together films. He did not fail with this film either.
When I first started watching the documentary, Grizzly Man, I thought it was a mockumentary because Timothy Treadwell had a similar look to Steve Irwin while being high energy and very intense love for animals that seems a bit unhealthy. I was unaware that this man every existed and was wildly popular in the 90s and early 2000s.
The documentary goes into detail about how Treadwell loved the animals he lived with as well as some details about his personal life. The film mainly focused on the work Treadwell did out in the Wilderness of Alaska. It emphasized on how close this man got to nature, especially dangerous bears where the government tries to regulate the closeness between humans and bears. The limit the government set is about a mile, Treadwell ignored the law and got within reaching distance of the bears. This was shown multiple times throughout the film where Treadwell would have the bears walk up to him and he walking up to the bears like someone would with their pet or introvert friend.
Herzog also brings in other people who knew Treadwell, family, friends, and people who worked with him. They tell their relationship with him and talked about what they thought about him. The way they were talking about him made it feel like he was still alive. Not knowing anything about this man beforehand, I thought that he was still alive until they mentioned it about fifteen minutes into the film. Which I find out he was eaten by a hungry bear with his girlfriend.
While I knew nothing about Treadwell and his work before watching the film, I think Herzog did a wonderful job of describing what Treadwell did and who he was as a person. Starting with the good parts of Treadwell and the basics that everyone should know then slowly getting into who he was as a person, showing his flaws after the good work he did. Herzog made this man human instead of a saint that he tried to make himself into in the media. Where nature was the only place where Treadwell felt at home and loved. Making friends with other species when he couldn’t connect with his own.
The Grizzly Man in the end was a well-made film with good sources and interesting content that keeps the viewer interested. I would recommend watching it on a rainy day.
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