Review: With the critical and box office success of Into the Wild, I decided it would be best to revisit a similar story in Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man. The two have a surprising amount in common, as both Sean Penn and Herzog detail the tragic lives of two young men fleeing to Alaska in order to escape society’s grip upon them. Both stories are tragic and yet manage to force us as human beings to contemplate our very meaning in this life. My only complaint towards Grizzly Man is Herzog’s smug air of superiority. Where Penn’s similar tale strives to learn from his wilderness traveler, Herzog uses Timothy Treadwell as a lesson, a story he believes proves his viewpoints on life. In other words, he is the Michael Moore of spirituality and morality. Though at points, this actually works in the film’s favor, because, despite the filmmaker’s attempt to hold a one sided argument, there are moments where it seems Treadwell rises from the grave to challenge and refute. It’s an interesting and compelling debate that lies in hidden between the frames. In addition to the hidden debate, Grizzly Man benefits from two wonderful filmmakers, one (Treadwell) capturing a hidden, natural world most of us can only imagine, the other (Herzog) combining those images with interviews and narration into a well developed and deeply moving piece. Speaking of interviews, you’ll notice the friends and family of Treadwell framed in a way that throws back to Errol Morris. I’m a fan of this approach that leave subjects on camera beyond merely their answers, so I can only applaud Herzog’s desire to force them to reflect on the words and thoughts they have just expressed. It makes the film more real, and their answers a little more revealing. Which comes to the final conclusion of Grizzly Man, this is not a documentary that earns praise because of its storytelling (though it is by no means bad), it is a film that remains with you because it forces you as a viewer to look into the mirror and examine your own life. You may not agree with Herzog’s or Treadwell’s ideals, but you will certainly want to know where you stand in the debate. Will this make you want to run off to Alaska? Probably not, but it might make you see the beauty and tragedy in your own life. Review by Matthew Abshire Informative: 4- On some level, I wish Herzog had gone more in-depth, explained or shown more, but then I realized this is an attempt to look into the soul of man without shocking the truth away. Entertainment: 3- not the most entertaining story, but few viewers will walk away from this documentary bored Technical: 5- Though Herzog benefits from Timothy Treadwell’s surprisingly wonderful filming, the real beauty is in Herzog’s eye to capture the story. Overall: 4- Herzog’s ability to capture the duality within Timothy Timothy Treadwell’s story is more than enough to cover for Herzog’s smug opinions.
 
Format: DVD Year: 2005 Running Time: 100 Min Distributor: Discovery Docs and Lions Gate Films Producer: Erik Nelson Director: Werner Herzog Date Reviewed: 1-12-2008 Story: Renowned nonfiction director Werner Herzog chronicles the tragic and untimely death of outdoorsman Timothy Treadwell, who devoted his life to studying grizzly bears living in the Alaskan wilderness -- only to have one of them maul him to death. Pieced together mainly from Treadwell's own video footage, this fascinating documentary goes deep into the wilderness of one man's mind to uncover how he spent his final days (NetFlix).