The International Writers Magazine:DVD Review
Grizzly
Man
Directed by Werner Herzog
Dan Schneider
Why
is glorifying the insane and stupid an American obsession over
the last couple of decades? The documentary Grizzly Man does not
attempt to answer this query, yet it does its best to bring this
tendency to its odd apogee, and is literally unlike any other
documentary film Ive ever seen.
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Coming off his
participation in the great mockumentary Incident At Loch Ness,
it should not come as a surprise that German filmmaker par excellence,
Werner Herzog, would stick with the documentary format in this, his
latest film. No, it is not a nature documentary, as most film critics,
including Roger Ebert, have written, simply because it follows a man
who spent thirteen consecutive summers filming grizzlies on an Alaskan
wildlife refuge, Katmai National Park, on Kodiak Island, but a documentary
whose subject matter is a mans flaming insanity, as it charts
the life and death of a fey, severely mentally ill blond man with a
Prince Valiant haircut, originally from Long Island, New York, named
Timothy Treadwell, who spent summers filming bears, and the rest of
the year going to schools, showing his films freely.
I get tired of books and films devoted to the worst in society- the
insane, criminal, selfish, greedy, shallow, and more. While watching
the tale of this supposedly reformed drug addicted alcoholic -cum -New
Age weirdo, I could not help but compare his life and death to that
of another deluded narcissist who perished over a decade earlier than
Treadwell, also in the wilds of a Alaska - Chris McCandless, whose delusions
of being one with nature led to his death in 1992, chronicled in adventure
writer Jon Krakauers bestselling book Into The Wild. McCandless
was another bored, spoiled, upper middle class white boy whose easy
life was seen as something terrible to deal with. So, he
bummed around the country, using many aliases- including Alexander Supertramp,
until he decided he would go and rough it in the Alaskan wilds, alone
and ill-prepared. That he ended up starving to death in an abandoned
bus made him a hero to addle-minded nature buffs, and a target of scorn
to Alaska natives who respect nature, and resent twits like McCandless
being seen as anything other than the fools they were. Yet, Treadwell
was worse, and his end even more ignominious, because not only did he
get himself killed and eaten by a bear, but also his 37 year old blond
girlfriend - Amy Huguenard. And, when he died in 2003, Treadwell was
46 years old, while McCandless was only half that age upon his death
in 1992.
Yet, there is no denying Treadwell, was mentally unhinged, even as Herzog
rapturously declaims his filmic abilities with a camera, and imbues
the most banal shots with an intent and skill that just is not there
onscreen, lacking any real style. Herzog must have had to tell himself
this to justify his fascination with Treadwells bizarre antics.
The documentary starts with shots from Treadwells hundred or so
hours of video, shot over the last five years of his summer expeditions,
then delves right into the grisly (pun intended) facts surrounding his
and Huguenards deaths. The film sketches a cogent portrait of
human psychosis. Although there is nature in Treadwells footage,
the shots are really all about him. His egomania dominates every shot
he filmed. Huguenard, and other women he squired on location (we learn
in a quick comment by Herzog), are almost never seen on film. Treadwell
was trying to craft his own personal mythos for some Discovery Channel
specials- that he was a lone protector of wildlife from poachers, corporate
greed, and the tourist industry. Yet, these were delusions. The best
example of this comes late in the film where some other nature filmmakers
are warding off a bear with stones, and spot Treadwell in the background.
They leave some innocuous smiley faces and greetings for him, which
he distorts into near Satanic death threats. Other signs of his delusions
come from his coprophilia- filming his touching of warm bear shit as
if holy, and filming bears fighting, then being delighted when one of
them shits mid-combat, or when he films a sleeping bumblebee he presumes
dead and laments, and his almost Tourettes Syndrome-like epithet laced
rants against the Wildlife Service and all of humanity.
Treadwells whole life was a weird sham, though, from his teen
failures, to his criminal history, drug addiction, overdose, alcoholism,
failures as an actor, and his assuming many different aliases- his real
surname was Dexter, and claims about his past. We learn, from a former
friend, that Treadwell had claimed he was from a small Australian outback
town, faked an Aussie accent, and even researched the town, just to
fool others. He also appeared on the dating show Love Connection,
was supposedly second choice to play the Woody Harrelson character on
the sitcom Cheers, and when he lost the role his life fell apart.
For fun he used to go to courthouses to watch criminals sentenced. Knowing
this, and that throughout his films, Treadwell is sporting an over the
top gay accent, is it unreasonable to assume even that and his much
vaunted eco-sensitivity were cons? In one scene he even claims he wishes
he were gay. Was this whole bizarre life simply his way of gaining fame?
After all, he got a book, The Grizzly Maze, by Nick Jans, this
documentary, and reputedly a big budget Hollywood film on his life in
the works, with Leonardo DiCaprio- who reputedly financed Treadwells
expeditions, and his organization: www.grizzlypeople.com- set to play
him.
These facts undermine the films thesis that there was some duality
or depth to Treadwell. Herzog loves to explore the flute vagaries of
the human psyche, but Treadwell was simply a cipher with delusions of
grandeur. His protection of the grizzlies was his own fear
of, and desire to escape, the real world. That Treadwell was pathetically
disturbed, immature, shallow, solipsistic, egotistic, manic depressive,
and passive-aggressive is beyond doubt, but why he was deserving of
this film one can only wonder. What of true heroes? People who do real
science, and are not frustrated wannabes who are desperate to do anything
to be a star? Treadwell broke federal laws to make his films,
lived in his own puerile Michael Jacksonian world, and was a hypocrite.
He projected human attributes onto the grizzlies he loved, yet never
did an actual thing to help the bears, for poaching, we learn, is almost
non-existent on Kodiak Island. He also apparently learned almost nothing
of their true nature - for while the local bears were used to humans,
the bear that killed him was likely a bear from the interior, Bear 141,
an old 28, and hungry- the sort that go after the relatively easy prey
that humans are. Ironically, in his deluded zeal to protect
the grizzlies he ended up getting two of them killed when Park Rangers
came to clean up his remains, and filled four garbage bags full of human
remains from the bears innards.
Treadwell had an audio recording of his and Huguenards death,
and Herzog listens to it on camera, but does not use it in the film.
This is a very poor choice, not made out of taste, but to not show the
real devastating impact Treadwells stupidity had on his and her
life. Many complain Hollywood fiction films never show the consequences
of onscreen violence, but for a documentary to not let us have even
a few seconds of the sounds of the attack undermines the films
documentary credibility, making it New Age agitprop that glorifies insanity,
and hides the dangers of psychotic belief systems behind clichés
like what Herzog tells one of Treadwells ex-girlfriends: You
must never listen to this. You should not keep it. You should destroy
it because it will be like the white elephant in your room all your
life.
Herzog also brings the film down in other moments, with banal statements
comparing Treadwell to Henry David Thoreau or John Muir, Treadwells
soul to the nearby glaciers, or stating that Treadwell battled
demons. This is manifest. In another scene we learn that Huguenard
and Treadwell were splitting up before they were killed, and Herzog
asks the dumbest question, as to why would she stay with him. As if
she had any real choice in the wild? We also learn that the audio of
their death reveals she could have escaped but chose to stay and try
to help him. Herzog sees this and her as mysteries in the film, for
she appears only twice in the films, again reinforcing his trying to
cull this image of himself as a brave loner.
A healthy respect, borne of fear, is the natural state between man and
the undomesticated beasts of the world. Treadwell violated that repeatedly,
and this gives the viewer some unexpectedly funny moments, in the vein
of that old Mary Tyler Moore Show episode where the TV clown dies and
Mary cannot stop laughing. We consistently are juxtaposed with Treadwells
fey antics of annoying the bears, then cutting to his somber friends
and family lamenting his being eaten by them, or where some New Age
pals take his ashes to be spread in the wild, and it turns out his ashes
are not in an urn, but a used tobacco tin. In some ways, this film is
a real life Blair Witch Project, but the film it most resembles is another
documentary, The Mayor Of Sunset Strip, which chronicled the
life of another mentally ill freak who destroyed his life, yet is still
alive and suffering. At least Treadwells out of his palpable misery.
Still, I wish there would be more attention paid to truly unique, worthwhile
individuals, because for every Timothy Treadwell, or Chris McCandless,
there is a Dick Proenekke- a man who also went to live in the Alaskan
wilds, but did so with years of experience behind him, and survived
into his eighties. He died the same year Treadwell did, and Treadwell
found Alaska around the same time McCandless did. I dont think
this has any significance, but if the three men are to be tied together
for their destinations, shouldnt the most admirable of the lot
get his due, as well? As another note of trivia, just three days after
Treadwell and his girlfriend were killed (October 5th, 2003) Las Vegas
entertainer Roy Horn was mauled by his tiger.
As for the DVD features, there is only a trailer and a fifty minute
documentary on the film scoring sessions that really illuminates nothing.
That Herzog did not even record a commentary is too bad, for it would
have been fascinating to hear if hes had time to reflect on Treadwell,
and if he has a lesser opinion of the mans stupidity now. Still,
for all its flaws, it is a compelling portrait of insanity, even as
it sometimes celebrates it. I would have cut the film thirty to forty
of its one hour forty-five minute running time, because much gets repetitive.
This is a film worth seeing, but only if you bear in mind the wisdom
of one of the helicopter pilots who flew home the duos remains.
He calls Treadwell a retard, then states, He was treating them
like people in bear costumes. He got what he deserved, a statement
echoed by a Native American Kodiak Island museum director, who says,
My people have been living nicely with bears for thousands
of years and we know enough to stay out of each others way.
That Treadwell did not only begs the question I opened this review with-
why does Herzog feel this mans stupidity and idiocy are worth
glorifying in film? Especially when he clearly believes Treadwells
philosophy is wrong. Where Treadwell sees cuddly things hed die
for, cooing he loves them, even as he actually taunts the bears, as
if they were stuffed animals, like the teddy bear he sleeps with in
his tent, Herzog sees indifferent creatures who could make a meal out
of you at any time, and we see a well meaning idiot, the New Age nuts
that revere him, and a film that is perversely fascinating. Ah, the
answer!
© Dan Schnieder March 2006
http://www.Cosmoetica.com
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