For those who know Grizzly Man and have an interest in Werner Herzog:
I was looking through some old papers including the ones I recently wrote in my English class. My final project was to write an analytical paper about director Werner Herzog and his purpose in making films. Realistically I was only able to watch Fitzcarraldo, Burden of Dreams, and Grizzly Man. The paper itself is rather long, but I would like to post some of my favorite parts of the paper. In the following paragraphs I will write about Grizzly Man, and why Herzog chose to document Timothy Treadwell.
Paragraph 1:
“Herzog and Treadwell use the power of film editing to manipulate the film they have into what they feel is their reality. Herzog wants to illustrate the struggle of Timothy Treadwell, and does so in his compelling documentary Grizzly Man. This is a true story of Timothy Treadwell, a wildlife preservationist, living amongst the grizzlies in Alaska. In his thirteenth summer he travels with his girlfriend Amie Huguenard. They camp near a Grizzly maze, and Treadwell and Amie encounter a bear that is not indigenous to the area. The bear attacks and kills both Treadwell and Amie. Even though the story is gruesome, Herzog isn’t attracted to the case because of this reason. Herzog looks under the surface of Treadwell’s film and discovers Treadwell’s reality through his film. Treadwell leaves evidence behind in the form of his personal camera, his instrument that opens his innermost secrets. Herzog analyses Treadwell and claims, “[he] saw himself as the guardian of this land and stylized himself as Prince Valiant”. It is not obvious whether Timothy believes the grizzlies need a true protector, and his actions give the impression that he is simply playing a game with himself”.
Paragraph 2:
“Treadwell used his imagination to portray someone he was not. It is evident in the film Grizzly Man, as Herzog chooses interviews with Treadwell’s friends who claim they knew much of his personality was an act. Herzog edits the film in a way that shows the extremes of Treadwell’s personality. We see the passionate side of Treadwell when he exclaims, “I will die for these bears”. At other times we see Timothy racing up and down hills pretending to be an adventurer, and sometimes his adventures turn sour in scenes where he is fighting his own demons. Herzog uncovers the truth about Timothy Treadwell exposing a remarkable observation, “Beyond his posing the camera was his only present companion. It was his instrument to explore the wilderness around him. But interestingly it becomes something more. He started to scrutinize his innermost being his demons, his exhilarations. Facing the lens of a camera took on the quality of a confessional.” A compelling moment that Herzog includes in his edit is “the tent scene”, in which Treadwell is cursing the gods during a drought in Alaska in an attempt to bring rain for the “starving” bears. Yet Herzog almost instantly follows this with a follow-up scene from what seems like hours later, where the rain starts to fall and Treadwell suddenly becomes glorified. He praises the gods for this miracle. We see here how Treadwell chose to confide in his camera, while Herzog edits it to his taste to reveal Treadwell’s true nature”.
Alas Paragraph 3:
“Herzog leaves his viewers with a compelling insight, which for me is a tribute to Timothy’s life. At the end of Treadwell’s video recording Herzog says, “What remains is his footage. And while we watch the animals in their joys of being, in their grace and ferociousness, a thought becomes more and more clear. That it is not so much a look at wild nature as it is an insight into our selves, our nature”.
After I was done with this project, I felt very relieved to turn it in. I did a lot of research for the paper, I hope it payed off well, in some sort of way.
