...even though you said you were going to ignore the inauguration, and then you're all agitated, so for some insane reason you decide to watch a documentary about a guy who gets eaten alive by a grizzly bear (Grizzly Man* [good review]),
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*I'm not usually a fan of Werner Herzog, but I would recommend Grizzly Man---just not when you're feeling emotionally fragile.
The grizzly man, Tim Treadwell, provides a good balance for Herzog's own intense, romantic attraction to nature. Herzog says, "I believe the common denominator of the universe is not harmony but chaos, hostility and murder."
Treadwell is the opposite.
He knew the bears were extremely dangerous, nonetheless thinks he can live in harmony with them as a "kind warrior," and gives them names such as Mr. Chocolate.
Herzog says toward the end of the film, while showing Treadwell's footage of the bear that probably killed him not long after:
Review in the Guardian about how unintentionally funny this film is. (Yes, until it's not.)
and then all night your brain's going:
*I'm not usually a fan of Werner Herzog, but I would recommend Grizzly Man---just not when you're feeling emotionally fragile.
The grizzly man, Tim Treadwell, provides a good balance for Herzog's own intense, romantic attraction to nature. Herzog says, "I believe the common denominator of the universe is not harmony but chaos, hostility and murder."
Treadwell is the opposite.
He knew the bears were extremely dangerous, nonetheless thinks he can live in harmony with them as a "kind warrior," and gives them names such as Mr. Chocolate.
Herzog says toward the end of the film, while showing Treadwell's footage of the bear that probably killed him not long after:
"For Timothy Treadwell, this bear was a friend, a savior.Food is the thing. As long as the grizzlies had plenty of salmon, they left Treadwell alone. But in his thirteenth year he stayed longer than usual, past the time when the salmon run, and the food available was him.
What haunts me is that in all the faces of all the bears Treadwell filmed, I discover no kinship, no understanding, no mercy. I see only the overwhelming indifference of nature.
To me, there is no such thing as a secret world of the bears. And this blank stare speaks only of a half-bored interest in food."
Review in the Guardian about how unintentionally funny this film is. (Yes, until it's not.)
Perhaps, in his thirteenth year among the bears, Treadwell fell victim to his own mythology, becoming a legendary Walks-with-Bears character, forgets what he knows about their nature (or his knowledge leads to arrogance?) and carelessness triggers the feral hunter-killer instinct in one of them (Mr. Chocolate, maybe): "Ummmm...lunch!"
ReplyDeleteWonder if Trump could be persuaded to go salmon fishing in Alaska where bears gather to do the same. I mean, his megalomania has destroyed his sense of reality, as he has shown in the last two years. Nah, that wouldn't work. He'd push his Secret Service guards out in front, then blame them for getting mauled.
How was that little parrot trained to impersonate the Prez? Priceless!
CROW: Did you see the movie? It seems it was something like you say:
ReplyDelete"Treadwell fell victim to his own mythology, becoming a legendary Walks-with-Bears character"--though he was like that all along.
But yeah, why he would stay too long in the season that year, when he knew the dangers is hard to comprehend. Arrogance, false-confidence, and/or a death wish?
WORSE, he had sold his girlfriend on the idea that the bears were friends, and she'd accompanied him on a couple trips. She got eaten too.
And entirely unlike Trump, tragically/stupidly Treadwell refused to carry ANY protection, not even pepper spray.
I didn't, because I didn't think I could (started to type 'bear it', realized that was unintentionally crass and insensitive) handle it.
ReplyDeleteThe whole idea made me terribly sad. Didn't know about his girlfriend; double tragedy, just godawful, all the way around. I imagine the bears had to be destroyed, having eaten humans...couldn't be allowed to try that again, rightly so, but another tragedy.
Yeah, it was good, well done & balanced, but really disturbing.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, they shot & killed two bears, which was NOT what Treadwell would have wanted, so he really f*ed up. (One bear was threatening the Park workers who came to investigate.)