Documentary: Grizzly Man- Sadie M.

The documentary I chose to watch is called "Grizzly Man". I was first exposed to this film by my senior year science teacher who had very good taste in movies. I must say that I'm extremely glad that he showed this movie to my class because I thoroughly enjoyed it (enough to watch it again for this assignment.) What's interesting about this documentary is that it's extremely different from what you expect. The movie starts off talking about Alaskan wildlife and the state of the grizzly bear population in the state while showing footage of both the beautiful forests and rivers, as well as the bears themselves. You initially think that this will be a film about the bears in Alaska  and perhaps some controversial issues issues surrounding them, or, as the name suggests, a man who must have some relationship with the bears: maybe he's the narrator, or maybe he is the director. Slowly, however, you realize that this movie isn't really about the bears at all. It's about a man named Timothy Treadwell and his obsession with grizzly bears that ends in his death.
The documentary explores his life and how he comes to be obsessed with the Alaskan bears. Almost all of the movies footage was shot by Treadwell himself, which only makes it more disturbing to watch after it is explained that he is no longer alive. The documentary slowly introduces the dark thoughts that possessed him and show disturbing footage of him talking to himself, almost crazily, as if he is having a normal conversation. While the movie doesn't necessarily try to explicitly prove a certain point, it definitely provides a very intimate look into this strange man's life. The film uses multiple types of information: old pictures and videos of Treadwell as a young man, as well as interviews from his parents and even grizzly bear experts.
I definitely recommend this documentary to anyone with some spare time. I can't quite explain how this movie touches you, but I know I both laughed and cried, all while being shocked at the breath-taking beauty of the wildlife Treadwell bonds with in this documentary.