Great documentary about a very interesting and mysterious person.
Tells the story of Tim Treadwell who, for a few months every summer, would travel to Alaska and live amongst the bears. He loved them, wanted to protect them, and eventually was killed by one of them.
It's surprisingly haunting and thought provoking, and provides many insights into not only this strange and eccentric man, but also into humanity as a whole.
I'd recomend it to everyone, if for no other reason than the great, beautiful shots of bears and other wildlife that Treadwell shot while out alone in the wilderness.
Yeah, Its directed by Werner Herzog, its really good.
I just saw it the other day and then didnt the guy just die a couple of days ago.
Also I saw an Werner Herzog being interviewed by Mark Kermode on BBC 4 and outside just as they were going into the interview Werner Herzog was shot. It was unbelievable, it was only a flesh wound on his stomach but still, however due to the nature of his work and his political history he just shrugged it off. Amazing.
IMO, Warner Herzog's narration was annoying, and didn't fit. Also, the interviews with the people Timothy knew seemed incredibly contrived. [SPOILER - highlight to read]: Namely the coroner giving his treehuggin' ex-"girlfriend" his watch, making sure she knew it was still running, playing it up for the cameras..all that shit. It made me sick. Crocodile tears and added dramatics alone killed the supposed "true story" of this guy's quest to become a goddamn bear, and of which I felt were intentional to counter all the accounts of Timothy being a headcase. All for the sake of the "documentary" being unbiased.
...and just Timothy Treadwell himself. What self respecting grown man refers to himself by his full name? C'mon. The guys name, coupled with his immature nature quest, his mannerisms, his baby talking to animals who don't give a shit about him, or why he's there, all just made the film unwatchable. Grizzly Adams he is not.
No offense to his fans, but he was a flake who got what he deserved and was living on 12 years of borrowed time, and for what? Something spiritual? Something personal? For Christ sake...he was said to have acted like a bear towards friends.
The lack of seriousness and credibility in the 45 minutes of it I could bear; no pun intended, killed it. This was like "The Last Broadcast", only 1,000 less believable.
Last edited by Cory Chaos on Feb 14th, 2006 at 06:45 AM
I don't disagree with you on most of those points. A lot of moments were obviously done for dramatic effect. But I was able to shrug most of them off. The only one that really bothered me was when he was listening to the audio of Treadwell dying, and seemed to exagerate his reaction, and pretty much dangled the tape in front of the viewers as if to say "I heard the tape, you didn't and never will".
As far as Treadwell himself goes, as the film goes on we get more and more glimpses into his mind, and his possible reasons for doing what he did. I'd suggest you watch the last hour and 15 minutes or whatever is left of the movie, less narration from Herzog and more unaltered video that Treadwell captured, much of himself just sharing his thoughts with the camera. It becomes obvious, that the man wasn't completely there. But then again, he was alone in the wilderness for months on end when we see him, I think anyone would begin to seem strange if they were alone for that long.
I watched this documentary today. It was definatley entertainment. And It's watchable IMO. I think it's amazing how a person can stay in the wilderness SO long and not go completley crazy. The man has some great quotes too.
"I'm touching the poop. It just came out of his butt! I'm inside of him!"
Easy. He already was. Trying to bridge a gap that was never intended to be, "saving" wildlife by invading their territory. We, as humans physically can't help preserve wildlife without a physical interaction that would totally change the animals surroundings and way of life. It's almost a lost cause.
Tell people to stop hunting bears and hope they listen. That's about all you can do. Trying to humanize animals is selfish, lofty, and utterly pointless. Guess he had to learn the hard way.
I have just finished watching this. The actual footage is absolutely astonishing. The only bits I didn't like were the presentation of the 'still ticking' watch and the retelling of their deaths by the coroner; like C-Dic said, they were rather contrived. However, the part where Herzog listens to the tape in the presence of Treadwell's ex-girlfriend is breath-taking and incredibly haunting. Also, I thought Herzog's general narration was excellent.
It's an excellent documentary.
__________________ Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Last edited by Ya Krunk'd Floo on May 1st, 2006 at 02:40 PM
as far as a documentary goes it was alright.i just didnt like this guy at all, i thought he was annoying as hell and was in need of a good wedgie. yeah he got eaten by bears but what the hell do you think was gonna happen,thats why i have no remorse for this guy.Im cold.im cold as ice.
Plus ironic deaths (real/or fiction) make me happy.
The ultimate intention of documentaries is not to make you simply like the subject, but rather to help you gain a greater understanding of it. Although the idea of 'living' with bears is rather stupid, the documentary quite clearly shows why Treadwell chose to. That was it's intention.
__________________ Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
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Feb 7th, 2006 10:44 AM
