Title : Of Grizzlies and Man: Watching Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man through an Ecocritical Lens

Author(s) : Phacharawan Boonpromkul

Pages : 28-43

Abstract in English : The documentary film Grizzly Man (2005),
directed by Werner Herzog, is of special
interest among ecocritics and
environmental advocates because it deals
directly with the topic of wildlife depiction,
conservationism and, above all the
interspecies relationship between grizzlies
and man. This article investigates five
problematic elements of Grizzly Man as an
ecological film: the wildlife documentary
as a genre, the highly controversial figure
of Timothy Treadwell who produced the
original footage, the grizzlies in the
background, the voice and hand of the
director Herzog in this film, and the film’s
ending. The analysis of these five areas
may deepen the audiences’ understanding
of both the film and the ecocritical
approach to literature. Apart from
highlighting certain contradictions in the
film’s ecological message and its
representation of wild animal, the article
tries, in its conclusion, to examine the
film’s potential to generate
environmentally positive responses and
create a better understanding of both
wildlife and the key human figure in this
film.