Grizzly Man Herzog Analysis

The work of Timothy Treadwell, since its beginnings, has been incredibly divisive as people continue to argue over the effects it had on the bears and their preservation. Werner Herzog aims to highlight this divide, as well as assert his own views, in the film Grizzly Man. While there is no uncertainty that Treadwell views the Grizzlies to be misunderstood creature which may be safely interacted with using certain techniques, Herzog seems to view them as wild, unpredictable animals, ultimately making Treadwell’s actions seem foolish. Through the way in which the film progresses and interviews with differing perspectives on Treadwell, Herzog is able to effectively communicate his opinions on Treadwell. Due to the obvious absence of Treadwell, …show more content…
The beginning of the film shows Treadwell happy as ever, successfully interacting with the bears and informing his audience of their plight, and Herzog even commends and identifies with hi as a filmmaker however we eventually begin to see his descent into madness, whether it actually happened or was created by Herzog. More critical interviews are played and we get to see more of Treadwell’s own footage which displays his disdain for the human world and his general lunacy. This gradual shift in how Treadwell is presented seems to leave the audience feeling deceived by the earlier impression of him and disillusioned in who he really was. This closely mirrors Treadwell’s relationship with the bears, seemingly functional until one occurrence which which invalidated his apparent powers. The constant references to his death throughout the film, however, remind the audience that it is not a happy ending, which creates a more skeptical eye on his apparent ability to live with the bears, making the end realization of his failures much easier. The most visible shift in the presentation is in the footage of the bears. The initial, peaceful footage of Treadwell observing the Grizzlies is starkly different from the last sequence of scenes, which goes from bears fighting, to the evidence of a cub killed by other bears, to humans hurting a bear, to a close encounter Treadwell had