No living director seems better suited to confront the conflict between man and nature than Werner Herzog, which is the main reason I first suspected that Grizzly Man had the potential to expand on the found videos of Timothy Treadwall rather than letting them speak for themselves.  For those unfamiliar with him, Treadwell is famous for having lived amongst the Alaskan grizzly bears for 13 summers and for returning unharmed from 12 of them.  Although the bears lived on land protected by the Federal Government's National Park system, he considered any intrusion into their habitat, from regular campers to park rangers, a major threat and deemed himself their protector.  In the early scenes, Herzog shows us an eccentric environmentalist whose concern for the animals seems genuine even when his methods and general attitude evoke both laughter and pity from the audience.  His presence is almost comical with his goofy bowl cut hair and squeaky-voiced repartee with the animals and Herzog milks that for what it’s worth.

Through edited footage shot by Treadwell and numerous interviews with loved ones, park rangers and other field experts, Herzog catapults the film into much darker territory.  Critic’s insistence on referring to the film as a nature documentary can be misleading because it is not concerned with the grizzly bears or foxes, but with man's relentless, and failed, attempts to shape nature to its liking.  Timothy's dreamed utopia is formed not from a true desire to see the animals protected, but from his neurotic blend of meglamania developing from his increasing disdain for mankind and desire to live with and like the grizzlies.  He goes on relentless tirades against numerous people working for the National Park and even people who he worked with side-by-side for over a decade, yet almost instantaneously reverts back to his childish persona if a grizzly or his favorite fox Timothy (one of the most obvious examples of his desire to be one with the environment) scamper on screen.  However, this is the same man who travels around the country speaking passionately to children about the grizzlies for no charge and the film manages to show his neurosis not as psychosis, but rather the consequences of overstepping the invisible line between man and nature.

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In slowly revealing the whole picture, Herzog is careful not parody or pity Treadwell, instead taking him deadly serious throughout.  Even in expressing his disagreement with his views on nature - insert the typical, yet always brilliantly entertaining, Herzog tirade about chaos and the cruel indifference of nature - he praises his skill and precision as a filmmaker taking on a hostile environment and, intentionally or not, coming away with powerful images.  In seeing the Treadwell persona as an extended performance, it is fascinating how Herzog himself creates a performance piece within his own interviews and commentary.  The coroner appears to be hypnotized while interviews with Treadwell’s friends and former lover seem oddly scripted and often insincere.  Herzog appears to be using this method to bait the audience emotionally, while also commenting on the performance that exists within all documentaries.  This forces us not only to confront the controversial nature of Treadwell himself, but the very nature of the documentary form.  In doing so, Grizzly Man offers the best that non-fiction films have to offer - a filmmaker interacting with, rather than simply reacting to, his subject and a final product which says as much about Herzog as it does his subject.