Grizzly Man (2005)

Werner Herzog: Self, Narrator, Interviewer

Photos 

Quotes 

• Werner Herzog : And what haunts me, is that in all the faces of all the bears that Treadwell ever filmed, I discover no kinship, no understanding, no mercy. I see only the overwhelming indifference of nature. To me, there is no such thing as a secret world of the bears. And this blank stare speaks only of a half-bored interest in food. But for Timothy Treadwell, this bear was a friend, a savior.

• Werner Herzog : I believe the common denominator of the universe is not harmony, but chaos, hostility, and murder.

• [last lines] 

  Werner Herzog : What remains is his footage. And while we watch the animals in their joys of being, in their grace and ferociousness, a thought becomes more and more clear. That it is not so much a look at wild nature, as it is an insight into ourselves, our nature. And that, for me, beyond his mission, gives meaning to his life and to his death.

  Willy Fulton - Pilot : [singing along to Don Edwards' "Coyotes", substituting Timothy Treadwell's name at strategic places] 

• Werner Herzog : [to Jewel, after he listens to the audio tape containing the violent death of Timothy and Amy. He is clearly shaken]  I think you should not keep it, you should destroy it. I think that's what you should do, because it will be the white elephant in your room all your life.

• Sven Haakanson Jr. - Alutiiq Museum Director : He tried to act like a bear, and for us on the island, you don't do that. You don't invade on their territory... For him to act like a bear the way he did, to me it was the ultimate of disrespecting the bear and what the bear represents.

  Werner Herzog : But he tried to protect the bears, didn't he?

  Sven Haakanson Jr. - Alutiiq Museum Director : I think he did more damage to the bears... when you habituate bears to humans, they think all humans are safe... If I look at it from my culture, Timothy Treadwell crossed a boundary that we have lived with for 4,000 years.

• Timothy Treadwell : Expedition 2001 coming to an end for Grizzly People. For me, Timothy Treadwell. I came here and protected these animals as best I could. In fact, I'm the *only* protection for these animals. The government flying over a grand total of two times in two months. How dare they? How dare they challenge me? How dare they smear me with their campaigns? How dare they? When they do not look after these animals, and I come here in peace and love. Neutral and respect. I will continue to do this. I will fight them. I will be an American dissident if I need be. There's a patriotic time going on in right now but as far as this fucking government is concerned, fuck you, motherfucking Park Service!

  Werner Herzog : [narrating over Treadwell's rant]  Now, Treadwell crosses a line with the Park Service, which we will not cross. He attacks the individuals with whom he worked for thirteen years.

  Timothy Treadwell : I beat your fucking asses. I protected the animals. I did it. Fuck you! Animals rule. Timothy conquered. Fuck you, Park Service! Okay?

  Werner Herzog : It is clear to me that the Park Service is not Treadwell's real enemy. There's a larger, more implacable adversary out there. The people's world and civilization.

  Timothy Treadwell : [imitating some unknown person]  Yeah, Timothy I'm getting a bad feeling about you.

  Werner Herzog : He only has mockery and contempt for it.

  Timothy Treadwell : [still imitating]  Well, I saw you on David Letterman. You're

  [mock giggle] 

  Timothy Treadwell : fairly entertaining.

  Werner Herzog : His rage is almost incandescent. Artistic. The actor in his film has taken over from the filmmaker. I have seen this madness before on a film set. But Treadwell is not an actor in opposition to a director or a producer. He's fighting civilization itself. It is the same civilization that cast Thoreau out of Walden and sent John Muir into the wild.

  Timothy Treadwell : Animals rule. All right. That's my, uh, happy stuff. Let's do a couple of nice takes now. Oh, man. Did I get angry? Fuck them, right? They do not watch these animals. They don't care about these animals. All they want to do is screw people like me around. It's amazing! Let the fisherman fucking shoot the animals. Let the fuckin' poachers come in here and fuck 'em. Let the fuckin' commercial people come in and fuck 'em with their fuckin' cameras and shit and the tourists. But we're gonna go screw with Timothy Treadwell because he loves animals and teaches kids they're great. Let's do that. That's what we're gonna do. Well, fuck them. Fuck them. I beat you. I beat you, motherfuckers. I beat you. I beat you. Fuck you! I beat you. I beat ya! I'm the champion. I'm the fuckin' champion! I beat your fuckin' asses! Fuckin' losers! Fucking nobodies! Fuck! Fuckin' fucks!

  [Treadwell pauses for a moment and then smiles] 

  Timothy Treadwell : Well, Expedition 2001 safely coming to an end. The bears moving safely into their winter dens. The foxes hiding in the woods. I came here. I studied them. Protected them. And I promise you. I promise for Grizzly People. I will be back. I will be back. And I thank the animals for keeping me safe and for inspiring me. I thank them so very much. Goodbye.

• Werner Herzog : This is Timothy's camera, during the fatal attack there was no time to remove the lens cap. Jewel Palovak allowed me to listen to the audio.

  [he is telling Jewel what he is hearing] 

  Werner Herzog : It rained into here, "Amie get away get away go away."

  [silence while Werner is listening to it and shaking] 

  Werner Herzog : Can you turn it off?

  [more silence occurs and Jewel is starting to cry] 

  Werner Herzog : True you must never listen to this.

  Jewel Palovak : I know Werner, I'm never going to.

  Werner Herzog : And you must never look at the photo that I've seen in the car in this office.

  Jewel Palovak : I will never look at them.

  Werner Herzog : Yeah.

  [more silence] 

  Jewel Palovak : They said it was bad... Now you know why no one's going to hear it.