Sorry for the head fake; this is not a post about the University of Montana, although for the record both my parents are alumni of that fine institution. No, this post is about the Werner Herzog movie, Grizzly Man, about Timothy Treadwell. (Whose official site - Treadwell's - is here.)
I loved this movie. You can follow the links above to read more about it, but basically Treadwell would fly up to Kodiak Island and hang out with grizzly bears every summer, for 13 years. His life came to a violent end when he and his girlfriend were killed and eaten by a grizzly in October 2003.
About half of Herzog's film is footage Treadwell shot on his own video cameras. The other half is Herzog's footage, interviewing Treadwell's friends and acquaintances after his death, and visiting his campsites on Kodiak.
I found Treadwell to be a fascinating individual - a wild romantic with delusions of grandeur - emotional age: adolescent. Some of the footage of Treadwell and his physical proximity to bears is unreal. He talks on camera about how dangerous his behavior is, but it's not clear that he really believed what he was saying (despite its truth). Herzog describes Treadwell in almost classically tragic terms - a man doomed by his own flaws.
I love grizzly bears so the movie was particularly interesting for me. Those less inclined to watch nature shows might get less out of it. Herzog as always is interesting. He is becoming one of my favorite directors.
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