Grizzly Man [HD]

Mr. Chocolate is a Carnivore
I liked this movie but I have to agree with all the reviews (who rate it both good and bad) that say Timothy Treadwell is emotionally and mentally ill. It's true: the most amazing thing about his story was that he wasn't killed and eaten any sooner.

I sympathize with the family and friends for their loss, but I can't gloss over what a crazy, grandstanding and ultimately suicidal "mission" this was. He wasn't exactly Diane Fossey, who literally fought poachers off the mountain gorillas in Rwanda--these bears were in a state park.

Absolutely NOTHING in science or life tells Treadway or anyone else that it's safe to live with bears. He ventures into the wild and lives in a constant state of delusion, even as the bears kill and eat each other, his cute little foxes, the adorable little cubs. As Herzog points out, there's nothing to support Treadway's fantasy world of harmony in the bloody Alaskan wilderness.

GRIZZLY MAN is a fascinating story but I...

A work of profound cinematic depth, worthy of repeated viewings
I must admit that my first reaction to this film was not immediately positive; Herzog's presence seemed overbearing and intrusive, and Treadwell himself was a figure so tragic as to be somewhat alienating. And yet I found that, days later, I found I was still thinking about it, still mesmerized by the questions it raised. How truly unsympathetic was Treadwell? Should I be somewhat jealous of him, for all the joy and depth of experience he found in his work? I have, as few have, found little in life so enriching and gratifying as what Treadwell appeared to find in the wilderness; are thirteen summers of that worth an early, terrible end?

So I saw the film again; I recommend that others do the same, if they find themselves at all intrigued after the first viewing. And then I saw the film again, and again. What I found with time -- as I let it develop into an obsession -- was an incredibly complex artwork, capable of provoking rich and sometimes startling meanings...

Interesting and thought-provoking
Before I saw Werner Herzog's documentary, I couldn't understand why the commentary on Timothy Treadwell's grizzly bear project was so negative. After all, he put himself in danger to protect and photograph these creatures whom he obviously loved to obsession. Others will certainly have different reactions, but the film certainly changed my mind about Treadwell. Unfortunately, he comes across, at least as I saw him, as immature, paranoid, self-centered (his girlfriend Amie hardly even figures in his many hours of filming), somewhat psychotic and lacking even the basics of any scientific standards for research. As the movie progresses, skillful editing brings out what I believe to be Herzog's justifiably critical attitude. Treadwell's rants against the Park Service, non-existent poachers (the grizzlys actually have to be "trimmed" down each year), a large "enemies" list, and worst of all, at least aesthically, his romantic sentimentalization of the bears, and giving them cutsey...

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