Timothy Treadwell was a thirty-something guy who loved animals - grizzly bears in particular - and for the last 13 years of his life he would spend 2 months of every summer alone in the Alaskan wilderness watching, studying and protecting nature.

For the last 3 years, he had been filming his adventures and amassed 100 hours of footage. In the summer of 2003, Treadwell and his girlfriend Ana, were mauled to death by a grizzly bear.

Grizzly Man, directed by Werner Herzog, is an account of those last three years and combines Treadwell's own footage and interviews with friends. Herzog narrates throughout.

It's a fascinating movie featuring some wonderful landscapes and real close-up nature but it's Treadwell who provides the real heart to the film. A somewhat dysfunctional and incredibly theatrical character, he shares some intimate moments with the camera and also lets off steam with unintentionally funny results.

Some of his opinions about harmony between man… more »

Timothy Treadwell was a thirty-something guy who loved animals - grizzly bears in particular - and for the last 13 years of his life he would spend 2 months of every summer alone in the Alaskan wilderness watching, studying and protecting nature.

For the last 3 years, he had been filming his adventures and amassed 100 hours of footage. In the summer of 2003, Treadwell and his girlfriend Ana, were mauled to death by a grizzly bear.

Grizzly Man, directed by Werner Herzog, is an account of those last three years and combines Treadwell's own footage and interviews with friends. Herzog narrates throughout.

It's a fascinating movie featuring some wonderful landscapes and real close-up nature but it's Treadwell who provides the real heart to the film. A somewhat dysfunctional and incredibly theatrical character, he shares some intimate moments with the camera and also lets off steam with unintentionally funny results.

Some of his opinions about harmony between man and nature naively idealistic, rather than realistic and it's because of this that it is often hard to sympathise with him. Yes, his death was a tragedy, but one can't help but wonder if he expected it. Herzog certainly suggests this might be the case.

I went in to this one knowing very little about it and whilst the film has an undeniably tragic core, it's also bursting with humour and passion and boasts a great score.

A surprise gem.