Project Grizzly

There are mavericks and there are mavericks. In 1984, Troy James Hurtubise survived a grizzly attack in the Canadian bush. Thereafter he became obsessed with creating a bear-proof suit of armor. Developed over seven years and constructed of rubber, chain mail, and air bags, the suit will be modeled by its designer at the Harvard Film Archive's screening of Project Grizzly this Friday. Filmmaker Peter Lynch chronicled Hurtubise's quixotic odyssey, including hilarious forays into the doughnut dens and biker bars of Canada, there to tangle with inebriated homo sapiens surrogates in preparation for the suit's intended nemesis. The mythic creature's awesome power is also simulated in "crash tests" by swinging logs, speeding trucks, and high dives off cliffs. Hurtubise's determination is impressive and not a little scary; Lynch's camera eye is unswervingly honest and wryly clever. This is Animals Attack! meets Twin Peaks by way of RoboCop.

-- Peg Aloi