Grizzlies in the mist
The most disturbing movie I've seen in the last six months (that isn't Saw) has to be Grizzly Man. Tim Treadwell, the grizzly man in the title, dedicated himself to "protecting" bears in the Alaskan peninsula. After 13 years of living with bears every summer, he died in the fall of 2003. He was eaten by a hungry bear, which is not at all a spoiler.
The movie is largely Treadwell's own video from past expeditions right up until a few hours before his death. The audio of the bear attack on Treadwell and his girlfriend was captured by his camera (but thankfully not played). Werner Herzog, who compiled Treadwell's video, narrates the film with a kind of curious affection.
What makes Treadwell interesting is his sense of purpose about studying and protecting bears coupled with a shallow, narcissistic creepiness. I'm sure he had a genuine love of bears, but he also depends on them for an identity (not unlike that other amateur grizzly enthusiast Troy Hurtubise).
Treadwell styles himself as the bears' last line of defense, but it's hard to tell if his amateur Crocodile Hunter schtick is somehow noble or just a self-constructed vanity reality. Probably both, and swinging toward the latter.
But aside from Treadwell's weird and troubled personality, there's the landscape and the bears. The landscape is stark and beautiful (I really love alpine/sub-alpine terrain). The bears are amazing, and it's remarkable that Treadwell could live so close to them for so long. I saw a grizzly from a couple of hundred feet last year, and that's as close as I want to get.
Worth a rental.
