Timothy Treadwell : The Grizzly Man

When I first saw Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man, I feared I was about to view just another consumer-oriented, sensationalism-fuelled documentary. My first impression was based on P. Aufderheide description of this type of broadcasts in Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction.

This assumption came as I saw Timothy Treadwell talk in the same words you often hear from wildlife documentary producers on various television channels. Recurring expressions such as "death,""warrior," "survival" and "weak" in the first minutes of extracts from Treadwell’s footage turned me towards these false first impressions that perhaps would not have come to my mind if I knew about the story of the “grizzly man” and the renown Herzog who directed the eponymous film before viewing it.

This impression quickly disappeared as I watched the documentary and realized the depth of Herzog’s work on Timothy Treadwell. Not only does he attempt to provide a full picture of his subject’s life and work but he also seems to be determined to dissect and better understand the psychology behind this difficult character. His exposé consists of a selection of segments from Treadwell’s footage as well as interviews of friends and family which help comprehend this man’s choices concerning his life and perhaps his death.

Grizzly Man definitely aroused my curiosity and I look forward to posting again after I see more of Treadwell’s footage in Grizzly Man Diaries and maybe learn more about director Werner Herzog and the mysterious man he decided to study in his documentary.