Grizzly Man Sparknotes

Grizzly Man (2005) is a documentary directed by Werner Herzog. It details the life of Timothy Treadwell, and how he spent thirteen summers in the Alaskan wilderness with grizzly bears, only to lead to his demise by the bears that he cared about so much. In a way it could be a documentary about a documentary. Herzog’s Documentary consists of several interviews of family, friends, and acquaintances, and several pieces of film shot by Timothy Treadwell himself. Grizzly Man as a films toys with several modes of documentary defined by Bill Nichols. The film as a whole is shown through reflexive mode, though through the film shot by Timothy, the documentary would also go towards an observational mode. From the rough, and in a sense, improvised camera

work done by Timothy, we get a look at the life of the grizzly bears. And within the participatory mode, we see Herzog interact with Timothy’s Family and friends on a personal level, especially after listening to the audio of Timothy’s death.

With all of that said, Herzog presents Timothy as looking both foolish and in a sense irresponsible for going to the Alaskan wilderness alone to watch and study grizzly bears without any prior training with the animals. Never shying away from how Timothy died, Herzog had an obligation to document ethically and truthfully, but in a way did not to the full extent. Though even the national park rangers claimed he was harassing the wildlife, Timothy truly believed in what he was doing and was wrongfully portrayed for who he was. In Introduction to Documentary: Second Edition by Bill Nichols (pg. 138), Nichols even states that “Grizzly Man explores the life of a specific disenfranchised and/or marginalized individual,

respectively.”
Although it would be irresponsible for most people to do what Timothy did during those thirteen expeditions, he was aware of what he was doing. Timothy’s death probably wasn’t something he wanted, but possibly something he accepted would happen, maybe even during his first expedition. And the amount of passion and interest towards the wild animals seemed to work for him. And thirteen expeditions alone with wild grizzlies is impressive even to a professional’s standpoint. His interest in animals went all the way back to his childhood, and willing to go above and beyond to get his message across, that message being to educate the children of America about the grizzly bears the Alaskan peninsula, makes him an interesting character. Nichols also states in his book (pg. 67) that documentary filmmakers often favor individuals whose unschooled behavior before a camera conveys a sense of complexity and depth similar to what we value in a trained actor’s performance. He states that they attract our attention and hold our interest. And although Nanook was considered the first documentary “star”, many soon followed including Timothy Treadwell.
There are parts of the film however where Timothy is shown how he probably wanted to be portrayed as: a passionate individual who truly believed in what he was doing.

And it wasn’t until Herzog listening to the audio of Timothy’s death did he make the ethical choice not to put it within the film, realizing that his death does deserve both dignity and privacy. There is also the possibility that Timothy was a different person when his camera wasn’t rolling. He stated that he was always alone, but in his last expedition, he decided to bring his then girlfriend along with him, and several different expeditions prior, it is noted that several women accompanied Timothy on his expeditions over the course of the thirteen years as well. And the only way we got to see him was through Herzog’s point of view, learning about Timothy along with

Herzog.
In conclusion, Herzog portrayed Treadwell as a naive and foolish individual who was irresponsible for the things that he did in the Alaskan wilderness. But throughout the film, we learn more about Timothy along with Herzog, maybe changing a point of view with him, or maybe Timothy wasn’t always like that when his camera wasn’t rolling. All in all, Timothy did truly believe in what he was doing, and his friends and family believed in him too.