The bird boys are back and doing something new this week! That’s right… It’s our first documentary episode! A Werner Herzog documentary at that! We’re talking about the incredible 2005 film “Grizzly Man”. So, lock in and bear with us (pun intended) because this one is an insane real-life story that will blow your mind.
Let’s keep it real. On the surface, “Grizzly Man” is a movie about a strange guy named Timothy Treadwell who lived with a collection of wild bears over thirteen summers and was inevitably killed by the animal he loved. Oh yeah… and the audio of the attack was recorded on film. That alone is insane. But “Grizzly Man” is so much more. It’s a documentary about filmmaking, a character study, a collection of Werner-isms, an exploration of paranoia and delusion, harmony vs. chaos, and of course… it’s filled with amazing footage of bears and other Alaskan wildlife. It is a WILD ride and an immaculate documentary. It sucks you in and stays with you for a long time after viewing.
In this episode, we look closely at Timothy Treadwell, the bears, and Werner Herzog and how they act as foils to one another and make this documentary so interesting. We marvel at the humanity and insanity of the documentary and chat about documentary filmmaking. We talk about our time at the cottage and share our own bear experiences. Both of us try our hand at Werner Herzog impressions and discuss what kind of man would choose to be living in the wild with no weapons. We ask if what he was doing was ultimately a good or bad thing, discuss environmentalism, break down his horrific death, and marvel at how it is framed in the documentary. We also talk about Herzog’s genius, his filmmaking technique, and his body of work. We break down the amazing coroner scene and why it is so incredibly effective. As Roger Ebert said, “Timothy Treadwell deserved Werner Herzog.” And he was right.
I don’t normally do trigger warnings but we do talk in-depth about a man and woman getting ripped apart by a bear. It’s not pretty. Talking about severed limbs and skulls being crushed. Heads up.
INITIATE BIRD PROTOCOL!
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