Grizzly Man - 6

This is a documentary about activist Timothy Treadwell who lived among grizzly bears in Alaska for 13 summers. In October 2003 Timothy and his girlfriend Amie were attached and killed. The most likely explanation of their death is not that they were in the Grizzly maze, but rather that this was the longest he had stayed there and food was becoming scarce. Director Werner Herzog used footage that Treadwell shot over the years to tell his story while also interjecting his own views of what happened and his thoughts on Tim's life. The film includes great nature shots of bears and the Alaska landscape, but is ultimately about reflecting on life and the struggle everyone has to consider the meaning of their life and actions. Herzog tells an interesting story, one that you can tell is hard for him to tell, both because of the tragedy of death and the reflection on the gift of life and nature. As a minor trivia note, Herzog is from Germany but studied for a while at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. The soundtrack to the film was made over a two day period after the film was already completed. Herzog invited a number of musicians to see the film and the write the music for it (you can see it on the special feature of the DVD). It is beautiful and fits the film well.