Grimly funny. Inadvertently ridiculous. Beyond compelling. Wholly strange. Dark. Very, very dark. Intensely sad on multiple levels. But weirdly optimistic at times. Grizzly Man is a documentary unlike any other. This is the wild and eccentric Werner Herzog peering into the deep abyss of psychological madness. There’s a deranged quality to the entire film and the events that it highlights and I’ve always marveled at the unintended hilarity of it all. Ghost the Fox POWER. Come back here with that hat, POWER. Tim Treadwell ate insanity sandwiches all day long but there was something honest and pure about his intentions, however misguided he was as an individual. This is the brilliant paradox that Herzog presents: Mental illness vs. unbridled empathy. Some of the talking heads in this film need to be preserved in wax – too odd to be real yet somehow they are. How does Herzog find these people? He provokes conversation with all of his films and this one is no exception, and at the end of the day, isn’t that what great art is supposed to do? Tabitha the Bear and Mr. Chocolate the Bear POWER; that you see a bear defecate mid brawl is another reason to be obsessed with this film. Nature, however skewed, is presented here in all of its glory.
Podcasting Them Softly 