Has anyone seen Grizzly Man yet? It is a film about that a man named Timothy Treadwell who lived with Grizzly Bears in Alaska for 13 years. It looks like a great movie. I just saw Ebert and Ropert's review and it got two very big thumbs up. I am hoping to go next weekend.

This is his website:

http://www.grizzlypeople.com/home.php

Lou

Hey,

I saw Grizzly Man this evening at the Lincoln Center Cinema on 62nd Street. What a film. It was NOT what I was expecting. It was both more and less.

Even though there was some absolutely spectacular coverage of wild bears in their habitat, it was NOT a film about bears or bear habitat. It was about a man who was obsessed about bears and their habitat.

Timothy Treadwell was a hard man to peg down for me though and I may watch it a second time. He was obviously not very well hinged, and I think it is easy to get away from just how amazing a human being he was and just how remarkable some of his accomplishments were. He lived for 13 summers out there - something that seems so very unfathomable.

There were some hysterical scenese in the film - and I will not go over them as I don't want to ruin the movie for anyone. However, I will say that there was one great scene with a bee where I almost choked on my popcorn.

Over-all, I highly recommend this film. It is an excellent documentary. See it while you can...just go to a theater with a nice large screen.

-JM

Went to see it myself earlir. What a movie. It was one of the best movies that I have seen this year. I also had a hard time figuring out Treadwell. Some of his coverage was just plain awesome, and you are right about about the amazing feats that he was able to do over 13 summers.

I liked that there were several scenes with brevity. The bee was one example. I also liked his first contact with the large grizzly outside of the tree. Some of the people that they interviewed about Treadwell were also quite amusing.

Lou

Hey Lou,

All good scenes, you are right. I just purchased the Don Edwards song, Coyote, that was the music that they played at the end of the movie. It was quite moving.

My next movie is going to be Dance of the Penguins. It seems like this is the year of the documentary.

-JM

I have not seen the film, and likely won't. I think the guy was idiot. I did have a chance to meet and talk with Treadwell while he was on a speaking tour. I though some of his cinematography was great. I also thought that he was extremely self centered and completely focused on him while he told everyone he was doing this to help the bears. I got the sense that he could not differentiate between his desire for attention and the desire to bring attention to the bears. I actually thought he was very stupid for his actions... (filming the bears and acting like he could “fit-in”). I thought from the first time I saw his material on TV, then later as a private showing, that he was doing the wrong thing. I refused to support his efforts. I dont wish anyone harm, but he got just what he was after. The girlfriend, now that is too bad, she was innocent.

Hey Tony,

I 100% agree with you that he was crazy - and I mean that in a psychological fashion (though hard to peg as to what exactly). I actually went to the movie with a friend of mine who is a psychiatrist. He was stumped as to how to diagnose Treadwell due to his host of different characterlogical and other issues.

I don't think that it takes away from what he was able to do though. That is what I have been seperating - it is easy to say "ouch, that Treadwell was a crazy guy and what happened was fully expected." I am just amazed at how long that it took and some of the footage he got along the way. The other interesting thing is that when Treadwell and his girlfriend got eaten, they had definitely made some big mistakes. Unfortunately, this did seem to be a result, at least in part, of the narcicism that you were describing earlier. The first was going back so late in the season - most of the bears they dealt with regularly had gone into hibernation and it was bears from other areas of the interior who were not familiar with them that they encountered.

You are right about his girlfriend. She referred to him as 'hellbent' yet stuck by his side the entire time.

I think that Treadwell and his actions were definitely polarizing. However, I do not think that in any way that it changes just how deeply incredible some of his feats were.

-JM

One other note...

The film handles these dichotomoies very efficiently. It creates a solid sense of his wonders while very clearly showing that he had some significant mental health issues.

The documentary in no way shape or form idolizes Treadwell. Actually, in my opinion, it looks down rather harshly on him and for what happened to his girlfriend.

-JM

I was at the Sundance Film Festival early this year but didn't get a chance to see Grizzly Man. I went to Alaska last month and we did get very close to the bears with our guide. I saw the movie the day after I returned home and had I seen it before I went, I probably would have been much more concerned about my distance from the bears (at one point we were only ten paces away). There is no question that Treadwell was mentally disturbed, but having been up close and personal with the bears myself, I have to say there is something mesmerizing about being in their presence. Especially true when you are looking through the lens and "shooting". You forget these are huge dangerous animals and there is a sense of wonderment and if I dare say it, "kinship" with these majestic animals. We had no protection of any kind with us during the week I spent in Alaska and our guide was a young college Biology graduate with a few years experience in the "wild". As it turned out,we were about 40 miles from the location where Treadwell and his girlfriend were killed on the Katmai peninsula.

"I have to say there is something mesmerizing about being in their presence. Especially true when you are looking through the lens and "shooting". You forget these are huge dangerous animals and there is a sense of wonderment and if I dare say it, "kinship" with these majestic animals. We had no protection of any kind with us during the week I spent in Alaska and our guide was a young college Biology graduate with a few years experience in the "wild". As it turned out,we were about 40 miles from the location where Treadwell and his girlfriend were killed on the Katmai peninsula."

Hi Bernie,

Thanks for posting. I had not realized quite how close you were getting to the bears - though I knew it had to be VERY close because some of your images are just so outstanding.

I am glad that you saw the movie. What did you make of it as a documentary? For me, while the movie is quite interesting, and Treadwell's accomplishments quite remarkable, it is hard to see Treadwell as a sympathetic character. I am still in awe over some of his accomplishments.

-JM

James,
I believe the documentary is truly outstanding! I tend to like documentaries anyway and this one is getting really high marks from the critics. I like Joe Morgenstern who publishes his reviews in the Wall Street Journal on Fridays, and he gave it a very high recommendation. As it turned out we saw "highlights" of the movie the night I returned from Alaska on one of the network shows (I think it was 20/20) and that led to our going to the opening the next day (August 12th, my birthday).