Grizzly Man Documentary showing - starts 8/12/2005

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roadtripper

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came across this documentary at work today and I figured I'd pass along the info. It looks pretty good...

Grizzly Man
http://www.grizzlymanmovie.com/grizzly.html

Showing at:
Landmark Kendall Square Theatre - Cambridge
Starting: Friday, August 12th, 2005

General Plot Description:
This documentary centers on amateur grizzly bear expert Timothy Treadwell, who periodically journeyed to Alaska to study and live with grizzly bears. The outdoorsman and author -- along with his partner, Amie Huguenard -- was eventually killed and devoured by one of the very animals to whom he had devoted years of study.
 
Rotten Tomatoes has given it good reviews. Any of you Boston/Cambridge and Beyond VFTT'ers interested in meeting up & maybe getting a beer before or after or both??

-Dr. Wu
 
one of the TV stations last night had a special on Treadwell and it contained alot of what would be in the movie. this isn't going to be an uplifting movie, I'm afraid, if it dwells on him. There should be some great scenery, though.
I watched the entire special up to the warning re. the "final segment", which apparently contained audio.
 
I heard an interview with the director on NPR the other day. Definately going to be an intense movie. He talked of "suicide by grizzly bear".

-dave-
 
One of my friends said the previews actually look kind of funny.

I'd be up for meeting up to go see it. Thursday would probably be best.
 
I watched the news report as well and it does have a "grizzly" ending, No pun intended. It was only a matter of time. :(

He shouldn't have pushed the issue so far because he may have interuppted the natural fear of humans that the bear has and now they are even more dangerous. IMHO

I will definitely check out the movie as I hear it has some great bear footage and scenery.
 
He shouldn't have pushed the issue so far because he may have interuppted the natural fear of humans that the bear has and now they are even more dangerous. IMHO

I think most of his 'research' was done in very remote locations where the bears don't interact with humans much if at all.
 
Reader's Digest ran an artcile about Treadwell, his girlfriend and their deaths about a year ago. They didn't flatter him and the Alaskans they interviewed pretty much summed him up as just another a crackpot that comes to Alaska and are completely out of their element.
I am looking forward to seeing the movie.
 
Dateline or one of those other news magazines did a show on him last night (Thurs) I happened to catch by chance. This guy was a disaster waiting to happen. Unfortunately, he took an innocent girl with him also.

This guy holds a loaded gun up to his head in the form of a grizzly, over and over, and pulls the trigger, over and over, and then what? We are supposed to be surprised when we read about his death? I just hope he doesn't convince other people that these are just big, cuddly pets, who really just need us to get close and give them love.

This was not a death that you couldn't see coming. People like this, do what they do until their time runs out. I do feel really sorry for the girlfriend and her family as well as his family. I don't know that she really knew what she was getting into. She blindly followed this guy assuming that he knew what he was doing. And he led her to her death in my opinion.

While they didn't actually air the audio, it was from the video camera but the lens cap was still on. He was telling her at some point she needs to get out. And he also makes the remark that he is dying. This was reported by one of the producers listening to the recording on the show I saw.

Very sad,
Keith
 
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Apart from the subject matter, one huge reason for seeing this film is that it's directed by Werner Herzog. Herzog has often done intense movies in challenging locales such as the Amazon - Aguirre the Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo, to name two. Fitzcarraldo was the story of a man who for reasons too long to go into here wanted to haul a steamship up, over, and then down a ridge separating the Amazon from one of its tributaries. By hand. The only way for Herzog to film this was to actually have people do it. Quite the sight, and quite a fiasco. Herzog often partnered with the late actor Klaus Kinski, who had spells of raving insanity for many of his making hours - especially when he was working with Herzog.

Anyway, Herzog ranks right up there with the greatest film directors ever by any standard. That's reason enough for me to see this movie. I wouldn't be surprised if Herzog had an easier time dealing with the grizzlies than he did with Kinski.
 
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I don't know much about the movie but from reading this and a review in the Boston Globe it reminds me a little of Jon Krakauer's book "Into the Wild". Some people thought what Chris McCandless was doing was noble while locals thought he was just crazy and unprepared.
 
from friends and parents accounts - the alcohol would have killed him long before the bear did, so this guy got a 13 yr reprieve. I have to wonder what their thoughts were in the final moments. I really don't believe he was expecting to die the way he did. The girlfriend is straight forward tragedy.
 
yep they had a segment on him on Dateline last night.
very interesting to say the least. his story definitely reminded me of 'into the wild'.
treadwell going off into the alaska bush thinking he was invincible, saying how he would die for the bears, but would never die under their 'paws and claws'.
I also found it interesting that all the native alaskans thought this treadwell guy was naive and crazy. much like what they said about mccandless.

saw the part where herzog listened to the tape of the 2 being killed by the bears. pretty chilling...
 
roadtripper said:
The outdoorsman and author -- along with his partner, Amie Huguenard -- was eventually killed and devoured by one of the very animals to whom he had devoted years of study.

Poor bear couldn't take it anymore. Don't think I'd be too happy about having a trust fund baby following me for years, either!

Snicker snicker....actually, I've been waiting for this film, mainly because the director is known for gripping documentaries.
 
is this film playing nationwide? i hope they show it in portland! i'd love to see this.
 
McRat Seal of Approval.**

I had followed the stories in the news with a morbid curiosity when it happened, and when I saw the mention on VFTT and the rain forecast, I decided to see it.

I was pretty impressed. Herzog does an amazing job in balancing condemnation, admiration, and even a gallows humor with some incredible footage, and paints an honest and human portrait of Treadwell.

While I approached this film as 'Darwinism in Action', and disagree with his indirect decision to acclimate the bears to human contact, the beauty of some of the footage left me wondering - if I were Treadwell - was it worth it?

There were many moments of laughter (both with and at the protagonist), and the clever directing makes the most of all of them. An excellent documentary of an unusual individual, his world and demise.

**NOTE: McRat Seal of Approval is no substitute for common sense. Seek second opinions. Take with grain of salt or as directed by your physician.
 
odd movie about an odd character

Saw the movie last night and here's my take...

I'll recommend seeing the movie (I think), but with a few warnings.

I thought the movie had very little to do with the interaction between man & nature. I thought the focus seemed to be on the wildly vibrant personality of Timothy Caldwell. If you're expecting to see some unbelievable Alaskan landscapes and some monumental grizzly bear footage, you might be disappointed. What you do get is a look into the life of one of the most unusual human beings of our time. At times it's incredibly funny (which I'm not used to from a documentary), and even non-nature loving people should enjoy this film.

I've never met anyone remotely similar to Caldwell, so my chin was on the ground for about the entire movie. I just couldn't believe some of the things he did & said.
 
We saw March of the Penguins tonight.. now THAT was a wonderful film with MANY gorgeous shots of Antarctica's landscapes and weather.

We are hoping to catch Grizzly Man but it doesn't look like we can find a local showing :(
 
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