Grizzly Men and The Grizzly Man
An analysis of two Werner Herzog documentaries
By
Leon Kavanagh
16/11/14
Year 3
Film & Television Production
Word count:
Herzog’s immense gift for coaxing such human performances from his subjects is undeniably present in his documentary features. There is no tabloid longevity, but true beatification of the human spirit to triumph and over come the minutest of odds. Growing up in a worn torn Munich, Herzog moved to the remote Bavarian village of Sachrang after a neighbouring house was destroyed during a bombing raid at the close of World War II. It becomes a lot more evident to see why Herzog was so interested in Dieter Dengler, a fellow German who too left his small hometown of Wildberg in a worn torn Germany to seek a better life.
In Herzog’s 1997 made for television documentary ‘Little Dieter Needs to …show more content…
The cinematography plays an important role in the films over all tone. The beauty of the scenery illustrates contradiction with the beauty clashing with the films tragic narrative. Much like in ‘Little Dieter Needs to Fly’ where we are shown the beautiful yet unforgiving jungles of Laos. The viewers know something sad and ugly lurks in the stories conclusion. ‘Grizzly Man’ denotes any idea of a happy ending with Treadwell’s birth and death year displayed under his name in the opening shot of the film. We as the viewer know this is a tragic tale, but still some form of denial is present, a desire to want to believe that everything will be okay for Treadwell by the end. This is the exact opposite in ‘Little Dieter Needs to Fly’ where the protagonist is recounting his tale of heroism and survival with present footage of him used to tell his story rather than archive footage used like in ‘Grizzly
An analysis of two Werner Herzog documentaries
By
Leon Kavanagh
16/11/14
Year 3
Film & Television Production
Word count:
Herzog’s immense gift for coaxing such human performances from his subjects is undeniably present in his documentary features. There is no tabloid longevity, but true beatification of the human spirit to triumph and over come the minutest of odds. Growing up in a worn torn Munich, Herzog moved to the remote Bavarian village of Sachrang after a neighbouring house was destroyed during a bombing raid at the close of World War II. It becomes a lot more evident to see why Herzog was so interested in Dieter Dengler, a fellow German who too left his small hometown of Wildberg in a worn torn Germany to seek a better life.
In Herzog’s 1997 made for television documentary ‘Little Dieter Needs to …show more content…
The cinematography plays an important role in the films over all tone. The beauty of the scenery illustrates contradiction with the beauty clashing with the films tragic narrative. Much like in ‘Little Dieter Needs to Fly’ where we are shown the beautiful yet unforgiving jungles of Laos. The viewers know something sad and ugly lurks in the stories conclusion. ‘Grizzly Man’ denotes any idea of a happy ending with Treadwell’s birth and death year displayed under his name in the opening shot of the film. We as the viewer know this is a tragic tale, but still some form of denial is present, a desire to want to believe that everything will be okay for Treadwell by the end. This is the exact opposite in ‘Little Dieter Needs to Fly’ where the protagonist is recounting his tale of heroism and survival with present footage of him used to tell his story rather than archive footage used like in ‘Grizzly