Werner Herzog’s 2005 documentary Grizzly Man encapsulates the life of Timothy Treadwell, from his immense devotion to protecting grizzly bears, to his untimely death in 2003. Herzog’s decision to portray Treadwell through a rhetorical form appeals the audience to empathise with him. In particular, the entire documentary features, and is directed and narrated by Herzog himself.

His use of a mix of archival footage and interviews presents a synthetic approach to the portrait film. The various interviewees combine both subjectivity and objectivity. Subjective in the interviews with Treadwell’s loved ones, while being objective in investigating the death of both him and his girlfriend when interviewing the coroner and other professionals. This combination of his narration with Treadwell’s video footage enables the audience to empathise with Treadwell and provide a philosophical element to the narrative of the film. Beginning the film with video footage of Treadwell without any narration, allows the viewers to make up their own assumptions on Treadwell with Herzog’s aim to change or maintain that perception until its conclusion.

Although documentaries feature real-life events and subjects, it can still be subjectively one-sided in its portrayal. Treadwell became the basis to presenting what Herzog analyses and firmly believes in. He recognises Treadwell’s belief that the universe is balanced with harmony, but then Herzog contradicts this by saying that he “believe(s) the common denominator of the universe is not harmony, but chaos, hostility, and murder”. Herzog ultimately portrayed Treadwell’s persona as a man who was misunderstood and, thus, to an extent, who lost his faith in humanity.