Best of the Decade #8: Grizzly Man (2005)
Every couple of years there seems to be a stand out documentary that gets everybody talking. A film that surpasses its limited niche audience, breaking its non-fiction shackles and penetrating the mainstream. Who would’ve thought a film with this piece of narration: “I believe the common character of the universe is not harmony, but chaos, hostility, and murder.” would be one of those films?
I’m still convinced that the general buzz surrounding Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man had more to do with the promise of a man being mauled and eaten on camera rather than the story of a sad yet hopeful loner. After spending so much time with Timothy Treadwell in such an intimate fashion, I would hope audiences would NOT want to see him downed by the bears he fought so passionately to protect. Luckily, Herzog handles the situation tastefully, avoiding exploitation in exchange for honest contemplation. He is continually questioning the actions of Treadwell, offering opposing views on the nature of the grizzlies and continually reminding the audience that these are indeed wild animals. From Herzog’s narration: “And what haunts me, is that in all the faces of all the bears that Treadwell ever filmed, I discover no kinship, no understanding, no mercy. I see only the overwhelming indifference of nature. To me, there is no such thing as a secret world of the bears. And this blank stare speaks only of a half-bored interest in food. But for Timothy Treadwell, this bear was a friend, a saviour.”
As tough as it might be to convince the average movie film to sit down with a documentary, I would’ve never thought that a Werner Herzog film would end up working as a primer to the casual film goer, but here it is at #8 on our best films of the decade list. Grizzly Man is both accessible and inspiring, and definitely deserves recognition.
Check out previous entries from our Top 20 Films of the ’00s.
Comments (11)
Yeah this is a great choice. When I originally saw this film I went in expecting to see an idiot tree hugger out with the bears. While there are some strange and humorous moments in this movie the parts that stuck with me the most were the scenes in which timothy treadwell is alone in the woods and talks directly to the camera about his feelings. His relationship with women, his doubt that god exists. It’s a really interesting look into someone’s personality and psyche.
Posted by Matt on December 18th, 2009i cried in it…i won’t hide it.
Posted by Mike on December 18th, 2009I was disappointed to learn that this movie wasn’t about Grizzly Adams.
Posted by Greg on December 18th, 2009That’s a wrestler I presume? It would be cool if Herzog did a Grizzly Man 2 and it was about some wrestler.
This is the first pick that caught me off-guard, and pretty outside the box. Good movie.
Posted by Henrik on December 18th, 2009Sort of. Grizzly Adams was a mountaineer who wrestled bears in the 1800s, for reals. They made a movie about him a couple decades ago, I think a TV series too.
Posted by Goon on December 18th, 2009Did anybody else know there’s a TV series out now called “The Grizzly Diaries” made from all of Treadwell’s footage? Because I didn’t… until a couple days ago…
Posted by Falsk on December 18th, 2009Haven’t seen this one yet, saw the trailer and the guy seemed like a twit, which I suppose is the point to an extent. If the Junkateers think this deserves a top 10 slot than I guess I better see it.
Posted by xego on December 19th, 2009I’m not seeing this until they add the mauling footage as a bonus feature on the DVD.
@xego: The Junkateers Top 20 list is very questionable imho, I wouldn’t see this movie just b/c its on the list. I made that mistake w/ Little Children.
Posted by Jeff on December 19th, 2009@Jeff
You might have to wait for a new “Faces of Death” for that one.
I too recently watched “Little Children” for the first time because it was on the list, but I don’t count it as a mistake. I would not count it among the best of the best of the decade either, but I did appreciate a lot about the film, altogether though I think it is strung to thinly for what it hoped I think to do.
I am wonder if it was Jay C that lobbied for this film to be on the list? If Todd Solondz “Happiness” hadn’t been done in 1998 I think it would have been #1 I could see him brow-beating the other Junkateers into acquiescence with peels of maniacal character assaults…You’re shit!” …”You’re an Idiot!” Like Patty McCormack in “The Bad Seed”…ok I am “Shit” now…
Posted by xego on December 20th, 2009great insight on the grizzly man’s time out there amongst bears, but you can’t deny it was poorly edited. not one of the top 20 films of the naughties.
Posted by DJRamirez on December 27th, 2009“I am wonder if it was Jay C that lobbied for this film to be on the list?”
No lobbying, it was just on our lists.
DJRamirez, whats worse than being wrong about the editing is that you used the term ‘naughties’
Posted by Goon on December 27th, 2009Leave a Reply