Hacker Cinema
The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner
Die große Ekstase des Bildschnitzers Steiner
1974 · Film · documentary · 45 min
Directed by Werner Herzog
A study of the psychology of a champion ski-flyer, whose full-time occupation is carpentry.
2 positivefrom 2 commenters
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2 comments on Hacker News
There is a 4+ minute Youtube clip that includes the central climbing scenes from "Free Solo" [0].
Amazing guy. The National Geographic documentary had Hollywood-esque layers that slightly annoyed me (ominous music etc), though. A documentary by Werner Herzog about Alex Honnold would be fascinating; something in the vein of his 1974 "The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner" [1,2]. I would have loved to see more of the philosophical, introspective side of Alex Honnold in the NG movie. In case of Herzog's ski jumper Walter Steiner, it was very much there.
0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnRoda7Ke2w
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Ecstasy_of_Woodcarver_Steiner
2: Full movie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTdQ2fGlrq8
I second this. I've been getting more into his films lately. One of my favorites so far is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Ecstasy_of_Woodcarver_Steiner. It's a documentary about ski-jumping -- something I tend to think about at most once every four years (if that much), and never thought was terribly interesting. Herzog, through an impressive combination of narration, music, and photography, turns it into an almost mystical experience.
Then there's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Lieutenant:_Port_of_Call_New_Orleans ...