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Devon Rafanelli

Mr. Van Auken

SUPA- Documentary as Genre

May 21st, 2019

Cinema Verite: Grizzly Man or a Beary Big Liar?

The story of Timothy Treadwell is a horrific and inspiring one. Through the composition

of the Grizzly Man director, Herzog, Treadwell’s story is also painted as a condemning one.

Treadwell was a troubled, recovering alcoholic, whose soul was “saved” by the bears. Herzog

painted Treadwell as the both an amateur and an accidental genius. Cinema verite is clear

through Timothy in moments of utter distress, by showing film that he never expected to be seen.

As an audience, we are expected to believe all of the film to be true, as it is what is presented to

us. But, Timothy’s purpose for filming was not to be exposed of his troubled nature, it was to

expose the troubles to the bears. Sadly, no one knows his true purpose, but we can recognize

what we believe to be true. Through Herzog’s choice of footage, he showed the authenticity of

Treadwell, but also his own footage of Treadwell’s friends, and his own thoughts about

Treadwell’s soul. Herzog constructed specific questions about Timothy to ask his family, and we

would assume their answers to be authentic, if there was not a camera held to their face.

Cinema verite offers a kind of truth in filmmaking that is “a sort of catalyst which allows

us to reveal, with doubts, a fictional part of all of us, but which for me is the most real part of an

individual” (Aufderheide 53). Having a camera on you, the audience assumes everything you do

to be truthful, but it can also be assumed that everything you do is fake. Timothy Treadwell
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would go in front of his camera, and say a scripted monologue for every take. He would do

multiple takes, all planned, and most likely going to be edited (unfortunately he could not edit

the takes himself). Treadwell’s purpose for filming could be composed into something different

than he intended. His feelings seem authentic, but the way he portrays them, with a camera on

his every move, does not seem like that. The film uses cinema verite to show who Treadwell

really was, not to show who he wanted to be perceived as. There were moments when Timothy

would film a nice scene about his meaning of life and loving the bears, and he would not stop the

camera from rolling. He would then scream, curse, or say something inappropriate, which shows

the audience how he actually felt about the situation. It is inferred that Timothy did not want that

footage to be seen, but unfortunately, Herzog decided to include it in the film to add authenticity.

The audience understands that to be real, as Timothy would not have wanted his audience to see

him in that state. However, there was a time in the film where Timothy was filming on purpose,

and talked to the audience about his personal struggles. Timothy’s usual audience had previously

been young students. He taught them about his experiences with the bears, and had never, to our

knowledge, discussed his personal life. His purpose was to expose the dangers of the bears, but

in his filming, explained his personal life, including his alcoholism. Timothy, knowing that this

was not appropriate for kids, filmed this take on purpose, and Herzog included it in his

documentary. Timothy never got to make cuts or organize his footage in a way that was

appealing, anf Herzog, instead of exposing the bears, exposed Treadwell and his messy life. If

Herzog had not composed the negative clips in with the positive clips, the audience would have

never known who the real Timothy is. We accept the truth in Herzog’s documentary because it is

personal information that would not have been released if Timothy had not been killed.
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There were moments that Timothy Treadwell filmed that were definitely planned, but

then moments where his words and actions were conflicted. As an audience, we are unable to

understand what is real and what is fake, if Timothy never made it clear. One specific moment

that struck me as conflicting was when Timothy said, multiple times, “I would die for these

bears”, but then in a moment of fear said “please God don’t let me die. I don’t want to die”.

Those are complete opposite sentences, which leads the audience to believe Timothy is lying.

Timothy put on a persona that he wanted the audience to see, and the moments where he said he

was willing to die for the bears were moments that were clearly filmed on purpose; he was going

to make the videos public. However, there are some moments where we see Timothy use his

camera as a therapist; he shares his personal feelings, which would most likely not be part of the

documentary he is making. He never shuts the camera off, he continues to say conflicting

messages, and it was left on the camera when he died. No one will ever know if he meant for it

to be included, but we can assume it is too personal for a documentary about bears, especially

when it conflicts with what he wanted to portray. Herzog included this footage to show who

Treadwell really was; to be as authentic as possible. With conflicting messages, the audience

understands what is authentic, and Herzog did this on purpose; to expose Treadwell’s true self.

Treadwell paints himself as a troubled alcoholic, who’s life purpose is to save the bears.

He says in his footage that he was in a dark place, but since the bears needed him he sobered up.

Although personal, he never shut the camera off, which allows the audience to believe this is

what he wanted to portray.. However, the audience will never know if this is authentic, because a

camera is on him. He planned what he wanted to say before the camera rolled, and he could have
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taken more takes if he wanted to. There is footage of Timothy taking 10s of takes of the same

thing, because it was not what he wanted. Since he repeated the same “script” over again many

times, that is not authentic. However, because he seems sincere, and he speaks to the audience

through the camera, it seems like cinema verite.

The story of Timothy Treadwell is a horrific and inspiring one, and Herzog portrayed

it as such. Through the composition of the Grizzly Man director, Herzog, Treadwell’s story is

also painted as a condemning one. Treadwell was a troubled, recovering alcoholic, whose soul

was “saved” by the bears, but through conflicting messages, the audience never knows his true

self.. Herzog painted Treadwell as the both an amateur and an accidental genius. Cinema verite is

clear through Timothy in moments of utter distress, by showing film that he never expected to be

seen. As an audience, we are expected to believe all of the film to be true, as it is what is

presented to us. But, Timothy’s purpose for filming was not to be exposed of his troubled nature,

it was to expose the troubles to the bears. He wanted the audience to help him help the bears,

because he was the only one who was there for them. Until the last summer, he was alone,

filming by himself, with nobody to see what footage was authentic and to see who he truly was.

Sadly, no one knows his true purpose, because until the last summer he isolated himself, but we

can recognize what we, as the audience, believes to be true. Through Herzog’s choice of

footage, he showed the authenticity of Treadwell, but also his own footage of Treadwell’s

friends, and his own thoughts about Treadwell’s soul. Treadwell’s death allowed Herzog to take

this footage and compose it in any way he wanted to; to show Treadwell for who he wanted to be

seen as, or his authentic self.