The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1974)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1974) – W. Herzog

Herzog himself called this one of his most important films (in Herzog on Herzog, 2003) and refused to be drawn into making any distinction between what the interviewer referred to as his documentaries and his fiction films.  For Herzog, they were all just films – and as we know, his documentaries were always designed to get at “ecstatic truth” rather than what he disparagingly refers to as the “accountant’s truth.”  So, as a director, Herzog is not afraid to stage scenes in his documentaries (based on reality perhaps or extending it in the direction he thinks it should go) and he is not afraid to bring reality into his fiction films (as when he uses indigenous people playing versions of themselves or chooses to really drag a steamboat over a mountain).  The act of exploring, crossing, and transcending the blurry line between fiction and fact is what makes Herzog’s films great.  Clocking in at only 45 minutes, Herzog’s look at ski-jumper (or ski-flier) Steiner, a world record holder, positions the athlete as another of the possibly insane dreamers that are often featured in his cinema.  After all, who would risk life and limb simply for a few seconds free of gravity, ecstatic though they may be?  With Popul Vuh’s trance-inducing help, Herzog provides a few ecstatic moments for the viewer too, using high speed cameras to create incredible slow-mo passages of, yes, ski-flying.  Steiner himself comes across in interview bits as reserved and a loner (save for a bizarre childhood friendship with a raven, possibly concocted by Herzog I would bet). Those who love Herzog will find many other choice moments, including his standard voiceover (in German this time) as well as the man himself on location with a handheld mic.