Grizzly Man (2005)

Man devotes entire life to bears, gets mauled by bear

This documentary from legendary German director Werner Herzog follows Timothy Treadwell, a grizzly bear activist who devoted years of his life to living with the creatures in the wild despite the enormous danger and considerable criticism. As the doc reveals right from the get-go, Treadwell and his girlfriend were ultimately mauled and eaten by the very bears he was trying to protect. What makes Grizzly Man so incredibly powerful is the hundreds of hours of footage Treadwell recorded over the years, unnerving clips that feature him interacting with the bears as if they were golden retrievers. The recordings are amazing from a wildlife perspective, but even more so for the way they depict Treadwell’s descent into mental illness, depression, and paranoia. This is often grim, disturbing stuff, but Herzog manages to balance it with a healthy dose of almost absurdist humor – there are some bizarre supporting players (including a macho pilot and an extremely odd coroner), and it’s impossible not to laugh in bewilderment when an overjoyed Treadwell comes across some grizzly poop and starts squealing with glee. But the cherry on the sundae is Herzog’s narration, insightful and candid, compassionate yet nihilistic. I mean, in what other documentary does the narrator toss off casually existential non-sequiturs like, “I believe the common denominator of the universe is not harmony, but chaos, hostility, and murder.”