[pct-l] "Grizzly Man" on TV tonight

[mdchurch at gmail.com (Matt Church)]

The DVD can be purchased through the Alaska Natural History
Association at http://www.alaskanha.org/_details.cfm?ProdID=969.  The
order was quickly shipped.  They also offer a second (and longer)
account of Proenekke's writings while living in the wild.  It's one of
the places I go when I dream.

Matt

On 2/4/06, Wayne Kraft <wayneskraft@comcast.net> wrote:
> Donna, now we're talking.  I have not yet seen this film, but I have
> here in my hand a copy of the book, One Man's Wilderness, An Alaskan
> Odyssey by Sam Keith from the journals and photographs of Richard
> Proenneke.  On page 68 of this paperback version there is a
> photograph of a stack of pancakes drizzled in Proenekke's homemade
> wild blueberry syrup and topped with a few pieces of bacon.  This is
> the most beautiful photograph, no, the most beautiful image of any
> kind that I have ever seen.  It should be hanging in the Louvre,
> perhaps with a plaque inscribed with a brief message in French,
> consoling the French people for the culinary failure of their crepes
> as compared to these flapjacks.  I have attempted without success to
> replicate this image in my own kitchen on any number of Saturday
> mornings.  Near my home stands the original pancake house.  I am
> referring here to the original, and possibly the only, restaurant
> devoted entirely to serving pancakes and pancakes only all the time.
> There is always a long wait to get a table. This is a pancake house
> so special that my wife and I chose to consume the first breakfast of
> our married life therein.   I am thinking that I should take them a
> copy of this photograph and tell them, "See, here, THESE are
> flapjacks."  I believe they would bow their heads in silent homage.
> I guess I'll have to get a hold of a copy of this film about
> Proenneke, but I have a question:  Does the film version, by any
> chance, have pancakes in it?
>
> Wayne Kraft
>
>
> On Feb 4, 2006, at 7:50 PM, dsaufley wrote:
>
> > Oh, I was so looking forward to the commentary about the truly
> > pathetic,
> > egocentric, delusional liar Treadwell, and you've summed it up so
> > perfectly,
> > Wayne.  I just couldn't take any more of his self-absorbed posing and
> > blubbering and quit watching before it was over, gorgeous bears,
> > foxes, and
> > scenery notwithstanding.
> >
> > For a really great look at Alaska and it's wildlife, I recommend
> > watching
> > "Alone in the Wilderness", the true story of Dick Proenneke (a man
> > who I
> > count as a personal hero) who built a log cabin with his hands and
> > lived
> > alone in a remote area for 43 years until the age of 83.  It's
> > available
> > through Bob Swerer Productions, at www.dickproenneke.com , or y'all
> > can
> > watch it anytime at Hiker Heaven.
> >
> > L-Rod
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net
> > [mailto:pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net] On Behalf Of Wayne
> > Kraft
> > Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2006 12:30 PM
> > To: pctl pctl
> > Subject: Re: [pct-l] "Grizzly Man" on TV tonight
> >
> > I watched it, too.  It was definitely a cinematic study of a bipolar,
> > paranoid, addictive personality rather than bears.  I suppose
> > studying such personalities is valuable to the extent that it might
> > enable us to bring cure or comfort to such tortured souls, but
> > Herzog's "study" of Treadwell was no more scientific or useful than
> > Treadwell's "study" of Grizzlies. In fact there seems to be a
> > striking parallel between Herzog's rapt fascination with Treadwell
> > and Treadwell's similar fixation on the Grizzlies.  Likewise, Herzog
> > seemed to insert himself into this film in somewhat the same way
> > Treadwell featured himself in his footage.  Herzog was not obtrusive
> > exactly, but how many director's appear at all in their films?
> > Herzog found himself on screen quite a bit here.  The irony of it
> > seemed obvious enough to me that I concluded that it could not have
> > been unintentional.
> >
> > I was also puzzled by what people thought Treadwell was
> > "protecting."  I am willing to agree that Treadwell thought he was
> > protecting the bears from something, but he was crazy. The bears are
> > already protected by government regulation and their own isolation.
> > Treadwell violated both with impunity.  The only danger attributable
> > to the outside world identified in the film was that "poachers" were
> > killing the bears. The official position was that poaching was not a
> > significant problem here.  In the epilogue, Herzog allowed two of
> > Treadwell's friends to gather around a grizzly carcass and claim that
> > the dead bear and others had been killed by poachers since
> > Treadwell's death, but Herzog presented this as the flimsiest of
> > speculations.  Was there any actual evidence of the cause of this
> > bear's death, that other bears had died and, if so, what had caused
> > their deaths?  Presumably, if there was even a shred of evidence to
> > show that Treadwell's absence has resulted in a poaching epidemic,
> > Herzog would have presented it.  Yet people were willing to
> > contribute financially to Treadwell's endeavor and allow him to make
> > presentations to impressionable children without a shred of proof
> > that anything of value was being accomplished. It always amazes me
> > how easy it is to get people to take their place in the Koolaid line.
> >
> > So Treadwell failed to fascinate me and I found myself trying to see
> > around this blonde buffoon for a look at the bears.  Ultimately, I
> > have to agree with Herzog and
> > Doc Holliday in his post that the Grizzly bears, while starkly
> > beautiful animals, are creatures best left the heck alone.  Now, the
> > foxes on the other hand, the foxes are another story.  Oh, what a
> > fine thing it would be to have a fox for your friend!  Does anyone
> > know if there is a fox sanctuary somewhere?  I could go there and
> > befriend them and film them and become their protector.  Then someone
> > could make a film about me.  The Fox Man.  I could travel the globe
> > spreading cayenne pepper on the ground in front of the dogs in the
> > fox hunts, springing foxes from traps and fox ranches and sneaking
> > foxes into hen houses. Oh, what a life it would be!
> >
> > Wayne Kraft
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Feb 4, 2006, at 10:41 AM, Scott Herriott wrote:
> >
> >> Doc Holiday wrote:
> >>
> >> <Not really! I watched this last night, and was quite
> >> dissapointed. I
> >> expected to see a documentary about grizzly bears, and
> >> instead was
> >> assaulted by a documentary of a self aggrandizing,
> >> mis-guided, self
> >> absorbing, naive young man who pushed the boundaries
> >> of human interaction with a
> >> very wild and dangerous animal.>
> >>
> >>
> >> Well, if I guess it was supposed to be exclusively
> >> about grizzly bears they may have called it "Grizzly
> >> Bear" instead of "Grizzly Man".  The film's focus WAS
> >> Treadwell and, as you correctly point out, his "self
> >> aggrandizing, mis-guided" attempt at what he was doing
> >> up in Alaska.  But I also felt it had, as the director
> >> Werner Herzog points out in the film, some
> >> extraordinary footage of grizzlies, probably only
> >> attainable by what Treadwell was doing, however
> >> misguided and ultimately tragic it turned out to be.
> >>
> >>
> >> Squatch
> >> www.walkpct.com
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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