In nature, there are boundaries.
Rating: R/10
Running Time: 103 minutes
US Certificate: R UK Certificate: 15
On DVD
Grizzly Man is the story of the nutjob ecologist Timothy Tredwell who year after year went to live with Grizzly Bears in Alaska. For years he lived as part of their sloth (a group of a bears apparently – everyday is a schoolday) and found himself accepted by them – well, not eaten anyway. That is until one year he outstayed his welcome and found out that no matter how much you want to, you cannot take away a bear’s natural instincts. This documentary interviews the people close to Timothy and shows archive footage to explain the years leading up to the fateful night that he and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard were killed in their tent by bears.
Slightly riskily for an English-speaking documentary, Herzog decided against using an established Hollywood voice and chose to narrate his documentary himself. It really works as he has a very calm grandfatherly voice (if your Grandfather was German, of course) – and his narration is always insightful and rarely intrusive. One the whole, the documentary is balanced and refrains from both treating Timothy as a hero and casting him as a clown (even though by watching the archive footage, it is pretty easy to see that he is the former). Impressively, Herzog refuses to use sound footage of the bear attack. This rejection of using shock tactics and respect of Timothy and Amie’s family is nice to see in this day and age.
Overall, Grizzly Man is a hugely interesting account of a strange man with a fascinating life.
It's Got: Measured impressive Germanic narration, a fascinating story well told
It Needs: To cut some of the obviously fabricated scenes that cheapens the film a little
DVD Extras Not too much but that's understandable as it's a documentary - just some trailers and a featurette about the soundtrack. DVD Extras Rating: 3/10
Summary
Grizzly Man is a hugely interesting account of a strange man with a fascinating life by master of the weird Werner Herzog.