Grizzly Man

Um documentário invulgar sobre um homem invulgar. O que quer que você espere dele, verá algo diferente. Werner Herzog não mima animais, nem glorifica Treadwell, que assumiu o papel do protetor deles. O que ele não era. Quando os visitantes do parque lançaram pedras aos seus ursos «amados, amados, amados», ele observava covardemente por detrás dos arbustos. Treadwell era apenas um louco que tinha perdido o seu instinto de autopreservação e contacto com a realidade, e pensava que compreendia o mundo selvagem melhor do que o mundo das pessoas. Herzog escolheu-o como um material de estudo para confrontar a personalidade de Treadwell com a sua própria visão e a dos outros. Um documentário refletivo que ficará na sua memória por muito tempo por causa da sua singularidade. (19/03/2009)

Herzog could, and should, shake hands with Jon Krakauer, the author of Into the Wild. The fates they’re following and, after all their subsequent “adaptation" have so many similarities that it’s puzzling. I guess the only difference is that Treadwell’s approach that “all bears are like Yogi Bear" was so far from reality that it became the sad parody of what he believed. I’ve never seen greater disrespect toward the wilderness. On the other hand, if it made him happy, why not? But I don’t think it did, if you look past his “I love you all" act, I’m sure he knew full well the bears couldn’t care less about him. That’s why, in my eyes, the strongest part of the movie is that one single sentence where he admits this. Despite the weaker and more boring moments, often suffering from the talking heads syndrome, I liked Herzog’s dissection of a character with a civilization complex. After all, nothing is ever just black and white. (16/05/2009)

A chilling and touching documentary that tells everything it wants to within its first half, but doesn't get particularly boring after that either. I could have done without the scenes with the watch and the ashes, but otherwise I'm satisfied. Personally, I think one should never lose respect and inhibitions toward animals. A person should never think that he can do anything he sets his mind to, and that as long as he is not afraid of it, he has the right to do it. Such unhealthy arrogance and such reckless selfishness simply cannot possibly end well. Most impressive scenes: The coroner's monologue about bodies and the audio recording, foxes, summoning rain, the last shot. (20/08/2011)

Who else could look into the mind of a man searching for the meaning of his existence in the remote wilderness and whom most of society considers an incomprehensible madman than the director who devoted his most famous films to the examination of complex figures, played by even more complex actors, in conditions far removed from civilisation? Herzog keeps an interpretational distance from his subject and lets the viewer form their own opinion on Treadwell and his predestined fate. There are a couple of emotionally manipulative scenes, unfortunately, but otherwise, Grizzly Man is an extremely appealing documentary window into a man who simply wanted to live differently – and that difference, interesting for some and insane for me, is a sufficiently interesting pretext and starting point for the viewer to immerse themselves and be willing to listen to Herzog’s narration and Treadwell’s footage. Was he crazy? I think he was, but this film managed to bring me closer to his worldview. 85% (30/03/2020)

Werner Herzog oferece uma visão academicamente factual e ao mesmo tempo compreensiva e sensível do destino duma pessoa que vive em condições extremas e que, conscientemente, está a equilibrar-se à beira dum abismo. Seria um equívoco inserir a sua personalidade complexa em qualquer tipo de caixinha. No entanto, não precisam necessariamente de se identificarem com as suas opiniões ou sentirem simpatia. Apesar disso, a sua história (impressionantemente narrada por Herzog) vai-lhes parecer inevitavelmente fascinante. Talvez também pelo facto de Timothy Treadwell, mesmo como documentarista amador, ter um espírito cinematográfico muito forte, graças ao qual as incríveis imagens deste filme puderam ser criadas em primeiro lugar. Um espectáculo inesperadamente emocional. (15/06/2021)