Alone in the Wilderness

Retired mechanic Dick Proenneke decides to spend his twilight years in the wilds of an Alaskan national park, living off the land in every way imaginable. Filmed in the 1960s, it shows a man secure enough in his own capabilities to not only stake his life on them, but to spend every bit of remaining energy on a painstakingly complete document of the process. Like an ancient Youtube vlogger, Proenneke rolls 8mm footage of himself hunting, canoeing, interacting with potentially dangerous wildlife and building an astoundingly cushy log cabin from nothing more than natural materials, then overdubs his own narration track to boot. With a warm, familiar personality and a straightforward, no-doubts conviction, he's one half Bob Ross and the other half Les Stroud, decades before either came to prominence. Absolutely fascinating, not to mention inspirational, I just wish it ran longer than sixty minutes.