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''The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner'' (german: Die große Ekstase des Bildschnitzers Steiner) is a 1974
documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
by German filmmaker
Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with u ...
. It is about
Walter Steiner Walter Steiner (born 15 February 1951) is a Swiss former ski jumper who competed in the 1970s. Career Steiner earned a ski jumping silver medal in the Individual large hill at the 1972 Winter Olympics. He also won the ski jumping competition ...
, a celebrated
ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fina ...
of his era who worked as a carpenter for his full-time occupation. Showcased is Steiner's quest for a
world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
in
ski flying Ski flying is a winter sport discipline derived from ski jumping, in which much greater distances can be achieved. It is a form of competitive individual Nordic skiing where athletes descend at high speed along a specially designed takeoff r ...
, as well as the dangers involved in the sport. Herzog has considered it one of his "most important films."


Production

The film includes footage shot in the German towns of
Oberstdorf Oberstdorf ( Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in Germany and one of its highest towns. At the&nbs ...
and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, as well as
Planica Planica () is an Alpine valley in northwestern Slovenia, extending south from the border village of Rateče, not far from another well-known ski resort, Kranjska Gora. Further south, the valley extends into the Tamar Valley, a popular hiking ...
in
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
(now Slovenia). The film was made as part of a series for a German television station, which restricted in some ways the content. Herzog's original cut was 60 minutes long, but it was edited down to 45 minutes to fit in a one-hour television spot. The station also required Herzog himself to appear on camera, which he had not typically done in his previous documentaries.


See also

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Ski flying Ski flying is a winter sport discipline derived from ski jumping, in which much greater distances can be achieved. It is a form of competitive individual Nordic skiing where athletes descend at high speed along a specially designed takeoff r ...
*
List of longest ski jumps Ski jumping is a winter sport in which athletes compete on distance and style in a jump from a ski jumping hill. The sport has traditionally focused on a combination of style and distance, and it was therefore early seen as unimportant in many mi ...


References


External links

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Review
at Fanzine 1974 films 1974 television films West German films 1970s German-language films German-language television shows Documentary films about spirituality German documentary television films 1974 documentary films Films directed by Werner Herzog Films scored by Popol Vuh (band) Films set in the Alps Skiing films 1970s German films {{Germany-tv-film-stub