Grizzly Man (2005)

A devastating and heartrending take on grizzly bear activists Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard, who were killed in October of 2003 while living among grizzlies in Alaska.

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writer:

Werner Herzog

Stars:

Werner Herzog, Carol Dexter, Amie Huguenard

15 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Werner Herzog	...	Himself / Narrator / Interviewer (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Carol Dexter	...	Herself - Treadwell's Mother
Val Dexter	...	Himself - Treadwell's Father
Sam Egli	...	Himself - Egli Air Haul
Franc G. Fallico	...	Himself - Coroner
Willy Fulton	...	Himself - Pilot
Marc Gaede	...	Himself - Ecologist
Marnie Gaede	...	Herself - Ecologist
Sven Haakanson Jr.	...	Himself - Alutiiq Museum Director
Amie Huguenard	...	Herself (archive footage)
David Letterman	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jewel Palovak	...	Herself
Kathleen Parker	...	Herself - Close Friend
Warren Queeney	...	Himself - Actor and Close Friend
Timothy Treadwell	...	Himself (archive footage)

Storyline

A docudrama that centers on amateur grizzly bear expert Timothy Treadwell. He periodically journeyed to Alaska to study and live with the bears. He was killed, along with his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, by a rogue bear in October 2003. The films explores their compassionate lives as they found solace among these endangered animals.

---

Plot Keywords:

bear | grizzly bear | alaska | animal | activist | 

---

Taglines:

In nature, there are boundaries.

---

Genres:

Documentary | Biography

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 October 2005 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

A grizzlyember

Filming Locations:

Katmai National Park, Alaska, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$15,795 (Brazil) (2 June 2006)

Gross:

$15,795 (Brazil) (2 June 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lions Gate Films, Discovery Docs, Real Big Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During a BBC interview about the film, Werner Herzog was shot with an air rifle. The interview was resumed indoors and at the end Herzog was encouraged to check his wound. Though there was "a bruise the size of a snooker ball, with a hole in it." Herzog declared "It was not a significant bullet. I am not afraid."

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Timothy Treadwell: I'm out in the prime cut of big green. Behind me is Ed and Rowdy, members of an up-and-coming sub-adult gang. They're challenging everything, including me. Goes with the territory. If I show weakness, if I retreat, I may be hurt, I may be killed. I must hold my own if I'm gonna stay within this land. For once there is weakness they will exploit it, they will take me out, they will decapitate me, they will chop me into bits and pieces. I'm dead. But so far, I persevere. Persevere.

---

Connections

Features Late Show with David Letterman: Episode dated 20 February 2001 (2001)

---

Soundtracks

"Coyotes"
by McDill (as Bob McDill)
Performed by Don Edwards
Courtesy of Universal-Polygram Int. Publ., Inc.
On behalf of itself and Ranger Bob Music (ASCAP), Warner Bros. Records, Inc. by arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing

User Reviews

A dangerous passion

If there was anyone at all to take this story to the screen, Werner Herzog, the distinguished German director, would have been our first choice. Mr. Herzog, a man who knew madness first hand, as his association to Klaus Kinsky proved, is a man that could make this documentary work in the way it does.

We follow an obsessed man, Tim Treadwell, whose love for the grizzly bears consumed him. Mr. Treadwell's own life, away from that setting, was nothing to speak of, but let him loose in the Alaska wilderness and he became a figure as large, as the bears he loved and cared for so much. Tim's passion for the grizzlies took him to appoint himself as the savior of the animals. This was a man that didn't pay attention to the dangers around him, because as all consumed individuals in search of greatness for achieving something, he lost track of what was real and what wasn't. Tim even gets his girlfriend Amie Huguenard involved in his quest for protecting the bears. At the same time, Mr. Treadwell is seen also with the foxes of the area, who didn't pose the same danger as the great brown bears.

What Mr. Herzog has achieved is to show us the man in the mission he set out for himself, expanding in the material Mr. Treadwell had amassed on his own. The director shows us breathtaking views of Alaska, as probably never has been shown before. The cinematography takes our breath away. The Katmai National Park has never been seen in its glorious splendor before.

"Grizzly Bear", like "The March of the Penguins", currently playing in local cinemas, is a welcome diversion from the typical summer Hollywood fare of films that are big on special effects that don't add anything to our enjoyment because the adhere to the same tired old formula.