A few nights ago I Tivo'd the broadcast premiere of Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man" on the Discovery Channel.

I just had time to watch it last night and it is a really interesting documentary. I'm surprised it got snubbed at the Oscars (of course I am also surprised that "Three Burials" was snubbed too).

Anyway, if you get a chance to see this doc definitely check it out. It's not at all what you think it is.

Yes, it is about a guy living amongst bears in the Alaska wilderness who gets killed by the bears he loved - BUT it's a whole lot more. It's a mystery, it's a character study into the state of this guy's mind, and it's a story about finding something in life that really makes you happy.

I highly recommend this film.

-Blake

UPDATE: There's a lot of buzz on the web about this doc being a fake. Kind of like "The Blair Witch Project". I don't buy into that camp, but there are some odd things that aren't explained very well by the film.

For instance, Tim lives in the Alaska wilderness for many months at a time in only a tent with very limited supplies - so how did he charge his video camera batteries? Also, how did he keep his food away from the bears and other critters (and have enough with him for months on end)? I also read an article that said he had a satellite phone on at least his last trip - again, how did he keep this charged? Also, in the documentary a lot of the "scenes" were obviously staged and the real folks involved were trying to act or recite lines given to them by the director. This was done to add drama and interest to the film, but it did come off as "bad acting", which helps fuel the fire that this documentary is not real.

If this is a fake, it's the best PR job I've ever seen. I mean, Tim Treadwell went on the David Letterman show and was also on Rosie O'Donnell's show. He was a real guy. So there would have to have been a lot of people involved to pull this off. I don't believe that it was a fake. It was and is a real story and a real documentary, but there are some very strange things involved that keep you guessing. Kind of makes it more fun actually! :)

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