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| Value for Money | 7/10  |
|---|---|
| Overall rating | 7/10 |
Full review by
PixieOfDoom
expert review 
on 30th Aug 2006
User Rating : 7
Respect :
0
Werner Herzog's documentary about environmental "activist" Timothy Treadwell is a very very disconcerting look at a very confused man. Treadwell, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict with depressive tendencies, was obsessed with grizzly bears. So much so that he founded an organization to help preserve their habitat and he spent much of the year living in the wilderness in Alaska amongst the bears for 13 years. While he was there, much of the time alone, he shot footage of the bears, the scenery, his own thoughts and the foxes that became acclimatised to his presence. Much of the footage is breathtakingly impressive - Treadwell knew each bear by sight and named them, and many of the bears seemed used to having him around and left him relatively untouched. Treadwell's commentary, however, backed up by interviews with people who knew him, is far more disturbing, presenting a portrait of a severely confused man who felt the bears were his friends, who did not understand the difference between them and his human companions, who thought he was "protecting" bears merely by spending time near them. There was no evidence that his work did anything at all to help protect their environment.
Herzog tries to contrast Treadwell's immature ideas about the beauty and tenderness of nature by pointing out that Treadwell failed to understand that nature is harsh and cruel, and that animals need to prey on one another to live (Treadwell cried when he found a fox cub that had been eaten for food and got angry at the animal that was responsible). Treadwell's rants about the bears, and about nature and man become increasingly bizarre and disturbing.
In the end, Treadwell and his girlfriend were eaten by one of the bears they swore to protect. He had outstayed his welcome, and an older bear, desperate for food as winter came on, decided to use them as sustenance. They found parts of both people inside the bear. They also found that in their last moments, one of them had turned on the video camera and there was audio of the attack (which does not get played in the film). Treadwell had, as he kept saying throughout, died for the bears.
This was interesting to watch, but a bit difficult as Treadwell's death was discussed within the first 5 minutes (although I knew anyway), and I felt that I was watching personal footage of someone who was vulnerable and a little bit incapable of coping with reality. It almost felt like an intrusion into the mind of someone with a real mental illness. I fail to completely understand the point Herzog was trying to make with the film, unless it was "don't mess with nature and don't underestimate it."
PixieOfDoom's review and ratings | 453 words
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