(4 ½ stars out of five)--A constantly entertaining and intriguing film. Filmmaker Werner Herzog uses found footage to tell the story of Timothy Treadwell, a man who lived among the bears in Alaska for many years, only to be killed by one of them in 2003. What's amazing about the film is how many beautifully sad moments Treadwell was able to capture over the years: a bumble bee, dead on a flower, somehow died as it was doing its work; a baby bear, killed and eaten by his mother, because a summer drought has stopped the salmon run... Through all of this, Treadwell is openly and honestly emotional at what he is seeing: mourning the death of a young fox killed by wolves, or calling upon whatever God may be up there to make a heavy rain so the bears will stop eating their young. It's also amazing to see Treadwell at work: he's making a film, and so he does multiple takes of some scenes, and we see the contrast between who he is in his film and who he is in reality. Although some of Herzog's interview scenes seem suspiciously staged and scripted, the Treadwell footage is what makes this film what it is, and he is able to make us understand, even in some small way, why this man would live the way he did. Winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.
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