In 2005, Werner Herzog produced the incredibly thought-provoking documentary, Grizzly Man, which allows the audience to see the world through the eyes of Timothy Treadwell, a man who wholeheartedly believed that his purpose in life was to cohabitate with, and “protect” grizzly bears from the dangers of the outside world. For thirteen consecutive summers, he managed to live in harmony with nature on a desolate Alaskan peninsula while filming himself defying the public’s perception that living amongst some of the most dangerous animals in the world was impossible. Towards the end of Treadwell’s thirteenth expedition in 2003, however, his luck ultimately ran out. Treadwell and his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, were brutally eaten alive by a voracious grizzly bear that Treadwell had ironically filmed earlier that day. Herzog reveals this catastrophe to the audience in the opening scenes of the documentary. By presenting the climax initially, Herzog manages to immediately grasp the audience’s attention.
Although the news of Treadwell’s death was generally considered disheartening and tragic, nobody on record ever claimed to have been shocked or surprised. This
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Herzog instead plays the role of an overseeing investigator. He spends the entirety of the documentary researching every crevice of Treadwell’s past. Herzog provides an equal number of arguments between those that supported Treadwell, and those who criticized him. Even upon the completion of Grizzly Man, Herzog’s exact temperament still appears conflicted between whether or not he agrees with Treadwell’s actions. By refraining from asserting any of his personal biases to the audience, Herzog consequently allowed the audience to formulate their own, unique interpretations of Timothy Treadwell’s lifestyle, death, and influence in the