The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1974)

Directed by Werner Herzog

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Werner Herzog as Self • Walter Steiner as Self

Germany • Documentary

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1. THE GREAT ECSTASY OF THE WOODCARVER STEINER

2. For instance, I saw this bowl here

3. and the way the shape recedes,

4. it's as if an explosion had happened

5. and the force cannot escape properly and is caught up everywhere.

6. Here you can see how everything is caught up,

7. all the energy, and yet it's full of tension.

8. I've made a sketch to give me an idea how to set about it.

9. Ski flying has reached the point

10. where it's beginning to present real dangers.

11. We've just about reached the limit, as far as speed is concerned,

12. of the manageability of skis

13. whereby the slightest wind or bad snow

14. makes it plain dangerous.

15. We all get a bit scared, especially if we see a colleague crash-landing,

16. which I never do because I never look when someone crashes.

17. Because after a fall or a poor flight,

18. your heart thumps like mad,

19. even during the run-down a bit.

20. The heart-thumping you get before a start

21. must not be interpreted as being like, perhaps,

22. the fear you feel...

23. just before a car crash

24. and you see that something is going wrong.

25. If a man were that afraid, he'd be finished with ski flying.

26. He wouldn't squat down to it.

27. He'd just jump straight ahead and his skis would be pushed upwards.

28. Maybe he would jump off like someone who'd never jumped off a ramp before.

29. That's why ski flyers don't like people talking of fear.

30. They talk about respect for the conditions

31. or some such thing, but never of fear.

32. I think we could jump off higher ramps.

33. But there'd very likely be jumps attempted and carried out

34. that might lead to more accidents.

35. We're approaching the limit.

36. Maybe I'd prefer to turn back,

37. go back to jumping off 150 or 130 meter ramps.

38. But it's the thrill of flying so far

39. that nevertheless gives me a kick,

40. as long as nothing happens to me. I'd rather not talk about that.

41. The last jump and fall you just saw was by Walter Steiner in 1973

42. at the opening of Oberstdorf's huge ski-ramp.

43. Walter Steiner landed at exactly 179 metres.

44. That's this mark, and this mark is, in fact,

45. the point where ski flying starts to be inhuman.

46. Walter Steiner was in very great danger.

47. If he'd flown another ten metres, he'd have landed down here on the flat.

48. It's like falling from a height of 110 metres onto a flat surface.

49. To certain death.

50. Strange as it may seem, I can say I'm standing

51. exactly where this film had its inception for me.

52. Shooting began in autumn 1973

53. during the Swiss team's training in Austria's Bad Aussee.

54. There the mat-ramp allows jumps of up to 70 metres.

55. We had decided to shoot with Walter Steiner

56. because he's absolutely in a class of his own nowadays.

57. To my mind, he's the greatest ski flyer there ever was.

58. His 179 meter jump at Oberstdorf

59. was ten metres longer than the current world record.

60. But it didn't make him world champion.

61. Perhaps because he flew too far

62. and the jury had to interrupt the jumps and start from a shorter run.

63. So his over-long flights were all discounted.

64. We began shooting around New Year 1974 at the 4-Ramps Competition.

65. Jumping on the Schattenberg Ramp was televised live

66. and so we were more interested in events on the side.

67. These are jumpers from the Soviet Union.

68. Steiner, Switzerland.

69. Walter Steiner was still suffering from a fall two weeks back

70. when he entered the competition.

71. He had slight concussion and a cracked rib.

72. The competition was won by Aschenbach of East Germany,

73. who had become ski flying champion ahead of Steiner.

74. It must be remembered that East German jumpers

75. start the season highly trained,

76. with about ten times as many practice jumps over the year

77. than all their competitors throughout the world.

78. Nobody was at all interested in the beaten Walter Steiner.

79. I remember sitting in school, listening to the teacher talking,

80. and he said, "Walter, you're day-dreaming again. What is it now?"

81. My thoughts were somewhere else all over the place, except in school.

82. I kept dreaming of flying, made some models

83. and plans of models bigger than I could ever build myself.

84. Maybe that's why one night

85. I suddenly took off and began flying.

86. But not just 100 metres, farther and farther down the track,

87. seeing myself suspended over the slopes and landing very gently somewhere.

88. It was all sort of in slow motion.

89. When you get to the flying part,

90. you feel the tautness in your head, not before.

91. Maybe I can even shut my mouth because I feel it's superfluous,

92. just a cramping up.

93. Then it's all easy.

94. That's when you become aware of what's going on.

95. That's what's great about ski flying.

96. 13th March.

97. The evening before leaving to jump in Planica, Yugoslavia,

98. Walter Steiner prepares his skis once more.

99. The running surfaces have six grooves to keep dead on track.

100. The skis are two and a half metres long,

101. much longer and heavier than ordinary skis.

102. Wax is then ironed on.

103. Early on March 14th, Walter Steiner leaves Wildhaus.

104. This is the house he lives in.

105. Steiner is well-prepared for the only ski flying this year.

106. There are only four or five ramps in the world

107. big enough to warrant talking of ski flying and not ski jumping.

108. We have now arrived at the giant ramp in Planica.

109. Today is March 15th, the first day of training.

110. However, the organizing committee has decided

111. this training may count for the competition,

112. if conditions on any competition day are bad.

113. The weather counts for a lot here, of course.

114. It has begun snowing, but there's very little wind.

115. We've got two super high-speed cameras on the job.

116. They take slow-motion pictures

117. that slow the action down ten or 20 times.

118. Looking at the starting list we have here,

119. it's surprising that there are no Soviet jumpers,

120. nor any from Japan.

121. Of the East German jumpers, usually top favorites in these events,

122. Aschenbach and Kampf are absent.

123. But world record holder Wosipivo is here

124. and I think we might see a new world record during training

125. or a new ramp record, since they've set the start fairly high up

126. and it's not known how the farthest will jump.

127. Walter Steiner was nervous before his first practice jump

128. because he heard on the loudspeakers that mediocre jumpers before him

129. were managing fairly long jumps.

130. He decided on caution, jumping at half-strength.

131. Steiner's first practice jump, slowed down 20 times.

132. Steiner sails past all the marks. He lands in the run-out section.

133. Confusion reigns.

134. They can't announce the distance immediately.

135. It must be a new ramp record.

136. You jumped further than the critical point.

137. I soon realised I was going too far, but I didn't jump all out.

138. Congratulations!

139. Up there, I felt like giving up.

140. But I knew if I let it go, I'd fly farther and come down with a bump.

141. That's where they're measuring. The distance signs won't go that far.

142. 169 metres. That's a record for this ramp

143. and it equals the Oberstdorf world record flight,

144. though this ramp in Planica is smaller.

145. It was going too far from the start I realised at once.

146. Still, I'm glad I stayed on my feet. I didn't think I'd make it.

147. Do you think tomorrow will see even longer distances?

148. No, I hope they'll be more careful now.

149. I didn't think I'd manage to do it in Oberstdorf,

150. but it was enough.

151. Is this really too far for this ramp?

152. Yes, it's too far.

153. Otherwise they'd have distance markers if it wasn't too far.

154. But they're bound to shorten the run now.

155. - Yes, that's for sure. - I sensed it.

156. When an American... They're not bad jumpers,

157. but still, if they get up to 140 metres or even farther

158. to 150 metres, that's enough for this ramp.

159. And then let me come down!

160. But I thought last year on the small one, it was getting too far and said so.

161. Then I jumped badly and almost felt a fool.

162. This year, I thought, "Give it a try!" It worked, thank goodness!

163. Before the second day's practice, the jury shortened the run one section

164. so as not to endanger the jumpers.

165. Yet Steiner was still afraid he'd sail down onto the flat

166. even with the shorter run.

167. We couldn't really see what happened. He seems to have had a bad fall.

168. I heard the loudspeaker saying he'd jumped 177 metres.

169. I'll try to find out what happened.

170. There was a moment's total confusion because Steiner wasn't visible

171. from the run-off tower where I was standing.

172. All we could assume up the tower

173. was that this was the end of our film on only the second day's practice.

174. I thought, "That's it!"

175. Is he injured or could he still walk? We couldn't see properly from up here.

176. He hurt his side a bit, but it isn't bad.

177. But he's not sure whether he'll carry on.

178. I don't think it's too bad. He isn't even concussed.

179. Up here, the run is being shortened again.

180. These pictures were taken just after the fall by one of our cameras.

181. Steiner was taken to hospital badly shocked.

182. Later, he told us the fall had made him lose his memory for a moment.

183. His distance, eight metres farther than the world record

184. but not counted because of the fall, was told to him five times,

185. but he kept asking about it.

186. He also tore his starting number off and later didn't know why.

187. - Will you be jumping? - I'm OK, but they won't believe it.

188. You've now exceeded all expectations.

189. Will you still jump?

190. I'll have to see If you have any trouble with that eye later on.

191. You'd better come back for some ointment, but not now.

192. Are you jumping?

193. I don't know. I have to think. My mind's not too clear.

194. Steiner didn't want to show it,

195. but it was quite noticeable he wasn't too steady on his feet.

196. After all, his head had struck the ground at 140 kilometers per hour.

197. We'll be showing the 177 meter flight in slow motion.

198. The sound you hear was recorded a minute later on the spot

199. in a cabin that was too dark for filming.

200. I tell them something

201. and they laugh at me and say I brood too much.

202. They say there's no need.

203. Things would be OK if they listened to one man and that's me.

204. I have a right to talk that way.

205. But as soon as I open my mouth, they say I brood and talk rot.

206. So I have to prove it, but proving it isn't so funny.

207. Not funny at all.

208. Yes, I proved it in Oberstdorf. But they didn't even believe it there.

209. They keep saying I brood too much,

210. meaning I have to break my skull before they believe me.

211. It would be too good to be true!

212. Well, we'll see. Maybe they'll listen this time.

213. But probably they won't listen till I give up ski flying.

214. We didn't find Steiner till 20 minutes later.

215. He'd gone off alone to the woods. This was his great moment of crisis.

216. He later said people expected too much of him,

217. trying to force him into a new world record or see him bleed.

218. He said, "I feel like I'm in the arena

219. "with 50,000 people waiting to see me crash."

220. Nevertheless, he ascended the run-off tower a third time,

221. but he didn't know whether he would really jump.

222. The question was whether he would ever be able to jump again.

223. Steiner did a third jump after all.

224. 166 metres, again beyond the critical point,

225. again breaking the old ramp record.

226. Why did you jump so soon after your fall?

227. Is it psychologically important?

228. Yes, if I hadn't jumped again, I believe I'd have been pretty afraid,

229. I mean, felt too much respect for ski jumping.

230. As soon as I had a good jump just afterwards,

231. I knew things were OK. That was what saved me.

232. Today is Saturday, March 16, 1974.

233. It's the first day of official competition in Planica

234. and they'll be starting in about an hour.

235. As I see, there's a problem.

236. It froze over last night

237. and today the run-down must be extremely fast.

238. Even yesterday they started right down

239. and the run can't be shortened any more.

240. The worries about Steiner started all over again.

241. Thank God, the sun soon came out and softened and slowed down the track.

242. Improvised field kitchens filled the valley

243. with smells of onion, garlic and c e v a p c ic I.

244. 50,000 spectators turned out

245. and it all looked a bit like a great pilgrimage.

246. People had seen Steiner's astounding flights on TV the day before.

247. Steiner, Switzerland, will voluntarily start a section further down

248. so as not to throw the whole series out of gear.

249. Walter Steiner, as far as I know, did something never before attempted.

250. He started one section lower down than the other competitors.

251. He'd certainly have crushed the competition

252. because his incredible superiority would have caused such a shortened run

253. that nobody would have done over 130 metres.

254. If the others did 140, he'd do 170 metres.

255. Mr Steiner, why did you start lower down?

256. Well, if anyone else hits the 140 mark,

257. I have to reckon on flying too far, judging from yesterday's results.

258. It's scandalous that they didn't shorten the run today

259. and even lengthened it two sections.

260. It's inadmissible.

261. Yesterday they let me jump too far four times.

262. It shouldn't happen. It's scandalous of the Yugoslav judges up there,

263. who are responsible.

264. Today it was wet and I had to reckon on it being a nervous strain

265. to start lower down, but I had to. I couldn't take the risk.

266. But it makes no matter. I want to ski fly.

267. And this was the first time I needn't be afraid.

268. Sunday, the second day of competition.

269. Steiner has a magnificent overall lead.

270. What about the speed now? Is it normal?

271. It's enough. It's enough.

272. I really had a terrific jump there.

273. You got 20 marks three times. I don't think that's been done before.

274. It may have happened once, but not to me.

275. - Not in your lifetime, it hasn't. - Not with me in any case.

276. Steiner's flight of 166 metres

277. was probably the most perfect ever recorded in the history of ski flying.

278. After this jump, once again, too far for the ramp,

279. they even tried to speed up the ramp once more

280. by protecting it with silver-foil from the sun.

281. In addition, they lengthened the run

282. and pressured Steiner to try one last time.

283. He did, but shortened his run by two sections.

284. Yes, they almost strung me up, surrounding me

285. and saying the whole Yugoslav people would despise me if I didn't jump

286. and they'd do all they could,

287. and what they did is, started two sections higher up.

288. I hope the Yugoslav public is now satisfied at least.

289. How far would you have jumped

290. if you'd jumped from the normal height?

291. It has to do with thermics.

292. The jump I've just made wasn't ideal.

293. I think at 111 kilometers per hour

294. you could reach 180 metres without difficulty.

295. Despite voluntarily cutting down his run,

296. Steiner won the competition with a lead never before achieved in ski flying.

297. I once had a young raven.

298. That was really something.

299. It was still practically unfledged.

300. I reared it on bread and milk

301. and when it could fly,

302. it used to meet me or saw me coming on my bike from far off.

303. I whistled and it flew onto my shoulder

304. and came home with me and stayed till I fed it.

305. Sometimes it waited at the roadside when I came from school.

306. Suddenly I heard it cawing.

307. I looked around and saw it was my raven.

308. And it came flying straight to me.

309. Unfortunately, he kept losing more and more feathers.

310. Maybe it was the food it ate.

311. The other ravens plagued it.

312. The row started early in the morning. They cawed.

313. He tried to flee, of course, couldn't get away and fell down.

314. So I'm afraid I had to shoot him.

315. It was a torture to see him being harried

316. by his own kind

317. because he couldn't fly any more.

318. I ought to be all alone in the world,

319. just me, Steiner, and no other living thing.

320. No sun, no culture.

321. Myself, naked on a high rock.

322. No storm, no snow, no banks, no money, no time, no breath.

323. Then, at least, I wouldn't be afraid.