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Grizzly Man Discussion Guide

Director: Year: 2005 Time: 103 min

You might know this director from: Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010) Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2010) Encounters At the End of the World (2007) My Best Fiend (1999) Fitcarraldo (1982) Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)

FILM SUMMARY

GRIZZLY MAN is the story of Timothy Treadwell, a bear enthusiast who spent 13 summers in Katmai National Park and Preserve among wild grizzly bears. With camera in hand, Treadwell lived among the bears, naming them, loving them, and coming to see himself as their protector. But in October 2003, he was attacked and eaten by a bear, possibly one that he’d filmed just hours before. His girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, was with him at the time and was also killed.

Prolific filmmaker Werner Herzog took interest in Treadwell’s story and began putting the pieces together. The film is not an examination of his death, but an exploration of a complex and unusual man, as well as a meditation on nature and man’s relation to it. Through Treadwell’s own film footage and interviews with people who knew him best, we meet a man who struggled with his past and claimed to find his calling among ’s wildest bears. As Treadwell immersed himself in their daily lives, the bears accepted his presence, followed him, slept near his tent, and permitted him to enter their space. Treadwell also filmed himself speaking for many hours about the bears and himself, as he reinvented his identity as a guardian of the bears.

Though Treadwell was known for being a brave, passionate man, Herzog found him to be a disturbed individual who had a skewed perspective on nature and carried a death wish till the end of his life. A uniquely told tragedy, GRIZZLY MAN features stunning footage of Alaska’s wilderness and Herzog’s poetic insight into human nature.

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FILM THEMES

GRIZZLY MAN presents a character portrait of a compelling and disturbing individual whose passion for bears verges into danger and delusion. The character study of Treadwell extends into a meditation on man and nature, death and self reinvention. “What remains is his footage. WILDLIFE PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION This is what Treadwell lived and worked for—to protect the bears. Their And while we natural habitats are being lost as human societies expand. They’re often displaced or killed when perceived as a threat to human life. Coastal watch the bears prefer fresh fish, but salmon populations are dropping. Inland bears might depend on the white bark pine tree, which is in danger animals in their because of climate change. Treadwell believed he was educating others joys of being, in about bears and fighting for their protection. But some bear experts believe he was doing more harm by habituating the wild bears to humans their grace and and upsetting the natural boundary between the two. ferociousness, MAN VS. NATURE a thought Treadwell claimed to feel more at home in the wilderness than in human societies. What “civilization” refused to give him, Treadwell becomes more sought in nature, as if bears and foxes could fulfill his human desires for love, friendship, and understanding. Treadwell, however, couldn’t and more clear. relate to them as a wild animal, and his role as protector and lover That it is not so of nature is also tinged with hubris. Though Treadwell believed he’d found communion with the bears, he was projecting his own vision onto much a look at them, instead of acknowledging their distinct nature. Herzog argues that Treadwell’s naive, romanticized view of the wilderness ignored or wild nature, as it belittled chaos and death, which is inherent to nature. is an insight into ADDICTIONS AND OBSESSIONS ourselves, our Treadwell wasn’t able to shake his alcohol addiction until the day he devoted his life to protecting bears. He saw this transformation as a nature. And that, miracle and claimed to have found his calling in life. “Wild, primordial nature was where he truly felt at home,” says Herzog. Perhaps this was for me, beyond so because it portrayed the state of Treadwell’s own soul and gave him his mission, a safe place in which to battle his demons. It’s possible that he became obsessed with the adrenaline kicks he got from encountering bears, gives meaning to which became another kind of addiction. his life and to his SEARCH FOR SELF death.” It’s clear to anyone who listened to Treadwell’s recorded tapes that he sought to escape human society—a world in which he failed with women, Werner Herzog swimming, and acting. So he created a world for himself where he was the central character. The camera became his primary companion, a mirror through which he scrutinized himself and reinvented his persona. With the camera, he had more control over how he was delineated and presented. Thus, his exploration of the wilderness and wild animals became more of an exploration of himself and human nature.

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FURTHER DISCUSSIONS: NOTES:

1. Is there a difference between nature and “wild” nature? How do you define what is “wild,” and why are humans the only creatures excluded from wilderness?

2. Herzog accused Treadwell of having a faulty understanding of nature. What is your view of nature? Is it a hospitable place that we can genuinely connect with, a Mother Earth? Or is it a cold, indifferent force that we are always trying to conquer?

3. What were your initial reactions to Timothy Treadwell, and did this change as the film progressed? How so?

4. Do you think that Treadwell did the grizzly bears more harm than good?

5. Treadwell believed he was giving protection to the grizzly bears. What do you think he was seeking from the bears in return? What did he actually gain from his time with them?

6. How do you interpret the aggressive side of Treadwell when he lashed out against park officials, game hunters, and people in general?

7. Throughout the film, Treadwell’s attempts to connect with wild animals can be seen as attempts to connect with himself. Is there something we have lost in today’s world as we continually disconnect ourselves further from nature?

8. What do you think of Herzog’s commentary and his portrayal of Treadwell? Did his comments conflict with your own opinions or did they help deepen your understanding?

9. How do you interpret Treadwell’s relationship with his camera?

10. It’s stated in the film that Treadwell avoided medication because it changed his personality and turned him into someone else. Did Treadwell ever really recover from his addiction, or did he just substitute alcohol and drugs for wild and dangerous encounters? What do you think of his coping mechanisms?

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FILM FACTS: • GRIZZLY MAN premiered at the 2005 Sundance • Treadwell was not allowed to carry a gun with Film Festival, where it won the Alfred P. Sloan him in Katmai because it is against National Park Prize and was nominated for the Grand Jury regulations. Prize. Since then, the film has won countless other awards for Best Documentary. In 2005, • In the 85-year history of Katmai National Park, Werner Herzog won the Outstanding Directorial what happened to Treadwell and Huguenard is Achievement in Documentary award from the the first known incident of humans being killed Director’s Guild of America. by a bear.

• To make GRIZZLY MAN, Herzog used material • Werner Herzog stumbled across Treadwell’s from the 100 hours of footage that Treadwell story while visiting a producer’s office. Herzog shot during the last 5 years of his life. was looking for his car keys when the producer shoved an article in his direction. It was an article • The bears that Treadwell lived among are about Timothy Treadwell. Before leaving that commonly known as brown bears. The term, day, Herzog vowed to direct the film. “” was a regional name for the bears living more than 100 miles inland in North • Herzog decided NOT to use the last 6 minutes America. The Alaskan and the grizzly on Treadwell’s camera—the minutes in which he bear are now considered to be one species. and Amie Huguenard were eaten by the bear. His reason was out of moral responsibility. “You • Treadwell was criticized for befriending bears would violate the right and dignity of the deaths because it could lead them to approach human of these two individuals. You just don’t do it.” habitation in search of food, which would then lead to innocent deaths. • Treadwell met Amie Huguenard, a doctor’s assistant in Colorado, after she read his book • The National Park Service at Katmai denied and contacted him. They spent parts of two Treadwell a permit to do research on bears. summers together in Alaska and, in January The reason: Treadwell only had a high school 2003, she left her job and moved to Malibu to be education, and he had never published a with Treadwell. She was 37 years old when she professional scientific paper. died with Treadwell in Alaska.

WAYS TO INFLUENCE

1. Share this film. Give others an opportunity to learn about Timothy Treadwell’s story.

2. Join conservation efforts to protect the wilderness from modern threats such as habitat loss, food scarcity, displacement, pollution, and ecological breakdown.

3. Support organizations that work for animal rights like Alaskan grizzlies.

4. Lighten your carbon footprint, for example, by driving less and eating locally produced food.

5. As Plato said, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” People were quick to criticize Timothy Treadwell’s passionate efforts without knowing anything about his internal battles.

Discussion Guide Grizzly Man 4