Grizzly Man
Well known for capturing human obsession at its most extreme in both dramas and documentaries, Werner Herzog found a perfect example in the reformed alcoholic, paranoid, child-like Timothy Treadwell. The result was 100 minutes of compelling cinema, as Grizzly wove heartbreak, horror and plenty of humour (some of it possibly unintentional - the local coroner's two-cents worth had to be seen to be believed), into a fascinating story of a man who seemed to act as if "he was working with people in bear costumes, rather than wild animals". -Flicks.co.nz's Top 50 Films of the Decade.
German veteran Herzog explores the life of eccentric naturalist Timothy Treadwell - a man whose obsession with Alaska's grizzly bears lead him to live amongst them for periods of time, until his dramatic death & digestion by the animals he was devoted to.
- Director:
- Werner Herzog
- Writer:
- Werner Herzog
- Cast:
- Werner HerzogTimothy Treadwell
Reviews & comments
Nature Bites Back
Excellent documentary that's up there with TOUCHING THE VOID and MAN ON WIRE for sheer "what the f**k?" value. Beautifully put together, endlessly intriguing, entertaining and engrossing. Werner Herzog's portrayal of Timothy Treadwell and his misplaced dedication the the wild bears that would eventually (and inevitably) kill him (and his...
Variety
pressIn the summer of 1990, Timothy Treadwell ventured into the Alaskan wilderness to live among its grizzly bears. He returned yearly, until his 2003 death (with girlfriend Amie Huguenard) at the claws of one of the creatures he sought to befriend, to protect and, on some level, to become. "Grizzly Man" is a brilliant portrait of adventure, activism, obsession and potential madness that ranks among helmer Werner Herzog's strongest work. Co-production of Lions Gate Films and Discovery Channel looks to receive the widest distribution of any Herzog pic in years and should see brisk theatrical biz before its fall 2005 television premiere...
New Zealand Herald
pressGerman film-maker Herzog's eerie and operatic features (Heart of Glass, Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo among others) are among the most significant and magnificent works of the 70s and 80s. He has also shown himself to be a master of the non-fiction film, bringing a guilelessly quizzical sensibility to bear on subjects both arcane (Bells from the Deep, about Russian mysticism) and frighteningly immediate (the destruction left by Saddam's withdrawal from Kuwait, in the awe-inspiring Lessons of Darkness)...
Empire Magazine
pressIn some ways, Grizzly Man is the anti-March Of The Penguins. For last year's kiddie-centric avian doc-blockbuster, the filmmakers happily anthropomorphised their cute subjects; in Werner Herzog's astonishing documentary, the director insists via his idiosyncratic, bellow-whispered voiceover that the last thing we should be doing is treating animals like people. That's what failed actor-turned-celebrity bear expert Timothy Treadwell did, and it t both he and girlfriend Amie Huguenard brutally killed and eaten...
BBC
pressIf March Of The Penguins was the cuddly side of natural history, Grizzly Man is all teeth and claws - and that's just the conservationists. For 13 years, bear fan Timothy Treadwell spent the summer camping with grizzlies in the Alaskan wilderness until with tragic inevitability he and his girlfriend were slaughtered in a ferocious bear attack. German auteur Werner Herzog pieces together the remarkable footage Treadwell left behind into a superb portrait of a fractured obsessive living literally on the edge...
Variety
pressIn the summer of 1990, Timothy Treadwell ventured into the Alaskan wilderness to live among its grizzly bears. He returned yearly, until his 2003 death (with girlfriend Amie Huguenard) at the claws of one of the creatures he sought to befriend, to protect and, on some level, to become. "Grizzly Man" is a brilliant portrait of adventure, activism, obsession and potential madness that ranks among helmer Werner Herzog's strongest work. Co-production of Lions Gate Films and Discovery Channel looks to receive the widest distribution of any Herzog pic in years and should see brisk theatrical biz before its fall 2005 television premiere...
New Zealand Herald
pressGerman film-maker Herzog's eerie and operatic features (Heart of Glass, Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo among others) are among the most significant and magnificent works of the 70s and 80s. He has also shown himself to be a master of the non-fiction film, bringing a guilelessly quizzical sensibility to bear on subjects both arcane (Bells from the Deep, about Russian mysticism) and frighteningly immediate (the destruction left by Saddam's withdrawal from Kuwait, in the awe-inspiring Lessons of Darkness)...
Empire Magazine
pressIn some ways, Grizzly Man is the anti-March Of The Penguins. For last year's kiddie-centric avian doc-blockbuster, the filmmakers happily anthropomorphised their cute subjects; in Werner Herzog's astonishing documentary, the director insists via his idiosyncratic, bellow-whispered voiceover that the last thing we should be doing is treating animals like people. That's what failed actor-turned-celebrity bear expert Timothy Treadwell did, and it t both he and girlfriend Amie Huguenard brutally killed and eaten...
BBC
pressIf March Of The Penguins was the cuddly side of natural history, Grizzly Man is all teeth and claws - and that's just the conservationists. For 13 years, bear fan Timothy Treadwell spent the summer camping with grizzlies in the Alaskan wilderness until with tragic inevitability he and his girlfriend were slaughtered in a ferocious bear attack. German auteur Werner Herzog pieces together the remarkable footage Treadwell left behind into a superb portrait of a fractured obsessive living literally on the edge...
Nature Bites Back
Excellent documentary that's up there with TOUCHING THE VOID and MAN ON WIRE for sheer "what the f**k?" value. Beautifully put together, endlessly intriguing, entertaining and engrossing. Werner Herzog's portrayal of Timothy Treadwell and his misplaced dedication the the wild bears that would eventually (and inevitably) kill him (and his...
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