Grizzly Man

S

sean campos

Member
stunned. i found this film absolutely remarkable in its story and character and in its filmmaking itself. beautiful. wow. bravo werner, bravo.
 
I heard an interview on NPR with wazhisname and he said his favorite scene is of him listening to the tape his girlfriend never listened to... camera's on her and her reaction to him listeneing to it.

Don't think you hear it... not about his death so much.

CaptM
 
no u do not hear the audio and yes the scene with werner and the ex girlfriend(who never listend to the tape and never does) is very well done. werner listens to it and has her stop after a while and tells her never to listen to it and to destroy it.
 
I just caught this on Discovery last night, and I can't get it out of my head. The scene with Werner listening to the tape was so powerful. Since we never hear the actual audio, my imagination conjured up some pretty damn gorey images. What bothers me the most is his girlfriend dying for his cause. Treadwell seemed to want to die by a grizzly attack. The girlfriend was supposedly afraid of the bears, and the thought of their horrible death haunts me.

The tone of the film, with Werner's voice over, reminds me of his doc about Klaus Kinski, "My Best Fiend." Even after "Grizzly Man" was over, I still didn't know if I believed in Treadwell's intentions, or for that matter, even liked him.
 
Richie White said:
Even after "Grizzly Man" was over, I still didn't know if I believed in Treadwell's intentions, or for that matter, even liked him.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Treadwell wasn't particularly likeable, and his actions were often reckless and misguided. He often appears to be mentally unstable. In hindsight, I'm a little amazed that he survived amongst bears for as long as he did.

Herzog doesn't glorify the guy, but neither does he skewer him. Grizzly Man seems to offer a balanced presentation relying heavily on Treadwell's own footage.

This was definitely a thought-provoking, memorable film. :thumbsup:
 
I think alot of it is fake. Especially the morgue guy...he just seemed like an actor to me and the camera movement was planned out. The interviews also seemed scripted. The only thing I liked about it is the amazing footage treadwell captured. He used a VX2000 BTW.
 
NO CA$H said:
I think alot of it is fake. Especially the morgue guy...he just seemed like an actor to me and the camera movement was planned out. The interviews also seemed scripted. The only thing I liked about it is the amazing footage treadwell captured. He used a VX2000 BTW.
Click to expand...

I have to agree that some of the interviews were way to planned out. Some of them worked, but you're right, the morgue guy was kind of lame. Especially the scene were he gives Treadwell's exgirlfriend the watch. This in no way ruined it for me, though. Any movie that stays in my head for a few days after viewing is a winner in my book.
 
Yeah this movie does haunt you. Its one of the best docs I've seen in a while despite a couple dumb interviews. Its amazing how those bears accpeted him for so long
 
I got the impression he was trying to find his nitch(insanity notwithstanding). He attached himself to the bears in a very self destructive way. I also got the impression he didn't want to share the limelight(excluding his girlfriends from his video for the most part). It was a fascinating but disturbing look at an unstable individual. He reminds me of a lot of people I knew in the late sixtys and seventys. Hell I might have been one of them I can't remember(hippies).
 
Yeah, I think they said Treadwell finished second to Woody Harrelson for the bartender role in Cheers. It's like he gave up on Hollywood, and was searching for a unique platform through which he could achieve fame. Tragically, he found it.

It's kind of interesting that someone would even be allowed to do what he did. Camping in "the grizzly maze" in late autumn? That's kind of like slathering yourself with chum and jumping in the shark tank. :shocked:
 
I think it was more than just his way of getting into hollywood. You can tell he really had passion for what he was doing. Even though it was a little dumb.
 
I agree Treadwell wasn't trying to get into Hollywood. He seemed to be trying to find his purpose, with one of his main goals being fame (not that there's anything wrong with that). He got a taste of notoriety by "living on the edge" and he liked it.

The DVD I watched excluded the David Letterman appearance--which must've been in theatrical versions.

Apparently (we don't see much of it in the film) Treadwell visited schools and helped to educate children about bears. That is commendable, I suppose. If he'd dedicated his efforts toward this end, he might've found his niche and still be alive.

However, when you consider what he was actually doing out there... He wasn't conducting any sort of scientific study or analysis. He was just...what? Trying to break down the natural barriers between humans and bears? At best, reckless and misguided; at worst, fatal.
 
What struck me about GM was that in the first five minutes of the film it was clear he was nuts...really nuts. It was very very sad to me that no one around him forced him to get help. This was a man who was clearly out of reality and delusional.

In the end, his delusions caused the death of 3 beings...two bears and his "girlfriend".

Watching the film and seeing both his family and friends it was clear why he didn't receive any help...they're all a little off as well.

There are some fantastic moments in the film and it is bizzarely haunting. It definitely stays with you. For me, what lingered beyond anything else was the sadness that this guy was just so out of reality, believing he was saving the bears (who live pretty safely on a PRESERVE no less)...

If you've seen it and didn't think the whole poop scene was proof enough that the man was nuts I don't know what else to say. I love my wife dearly but I wouldn't run into the john after she's taking a massive dump and cooh over her poop because its been inside of her. In the end he got his wish...to be inside a bear. Too bad no one got him help before 3 grizzly deaths occurred, no pun intended.

-Robert
 
That was pretty funny when that fox named ghost stole his hat and he was cursing like a sailor. I couldn't stop laughin.
 
Great movie about the nexus between man and animal---Herzog is brilliant. Make sure you watch the extra on the DVD about the making of the soundtrack--Fascinating the way Herzog directs that.
 
I thought Treadwell was hillarious. It's a shame that such a fascinating person had to die. I think some of the interviews were to scripted but that may have added to the surreal feel of the doc. which probably added to the humor of Treadwell. God knows it is not a funny story.
 
I think I need to find out more about Herzog... I felt like this guy was able to capitalize on TT's footage (and life, for that matter). The story was definitely about TT moreso then the bears... or even the relationship of TT and the bears.

The story starts out to show TT's passion... and his FILMMAKING approach. It's kind of cool that you can see how an indi-producer must shoot for the edit. To non-video people they may think that he's "extra-nutty" because of how he holds a gaze into the camera... or sentences are broken with long pauses... but he's just planning for the edit! Also much of the dialog was for HIM, not us... don't you ever do your own video and give yourself notes to listen to so you remember what your thought was at the time? To me it was cool to see that... I understood what HE was planning to SHOW us... not what HERZOG CHOSE to show us!

I was relieved to read some voices of reason in this thread... like No Ca$H... The friend of TT? How much do you wanna' bet that guy is an aspiring actor? He was playing to the cam SO much I wanted to puke! This guy isn't moved in ANY way by what happened... every facial expression and body posture was carefully articulated. I think the only 3 REAL people (besides TT, family, and his GF) were the two pilots and the ex-girlfriend. I think Herzog was acting when he listened to the tape... and the coroner stuff looked very controlled too.

In my opinion, the only truly amazing thing about it was Treadwell's footage. What's haunting is that HE was doing this and that his perspective of himself within this situation was completely out of whack. I don't think he was trying to make it in Hollywood, but that's close enough to what he was trying to do. This became his religion... in which HE was the center. Even in his own mind I don't think it was about the bears and foxes as much as it was about how HE fit into all of it. His intention was to be just as strong of a presence throughout whatever production he was planning on.

I wonder how Herzog got this stuff? How could you F up a documentary about a guy and bears when you have hundreds of hours of compelling footage to choose from? Herzog took the obvious route of building the entire story around the eventual end. Every person involved gives a CSI-sensationalized account... it's like they were coached to be explicit about gore.

I don't know... the production (outside of TT's footage) felt fake... and like a total slap in Treadwell's face if Herzog was supposed to be a friend on any level.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top