So much average

Good concept, poorly executed.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

In this 45 minute documentary, Werner Herzog takes a seemingly ordinary subject matter (ski jumping) and turns it into something profound: a meditation on life and death and man's desire to be the best, no matter the consequences. It follows the career of champion ski jumper Walter Steiner, who's determined to win big at a contest in the former Yugoslavia.Despite the scant running time this is a moving and reflective viewing experience that seeks to give an insight into a man living on the edge. It does so ably, and in addition Herzog includes a number of beautiful images of this chap jumping through the air in extreme slow motion, with the viewer waiting to see whether he makes or breaks it. It's a wonderful visual experience, and another example of Herzog's skill as a documentary film-maker.

Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner, The (1974) *** (out of 4) Another interesting documentary from the German director. The film takes a look at Walter Steiner, a Swedish ski jumper who was considered the greatest in history. At least he was considered the greatest when this film was made and since I'm not too familiar with the sport I can't say if he has been pasted or not. The film, like most of Herzog's documentaries, takes a look at something that a lot of people might not find interesting yet Herzog does his magic and in the end the film works quite well. It seems that Herzog is interested in the sport as well as the man himself so a lot of attention goes into both as we get to learn the rules behind the sport and we see what sets Steiner off. Steiner is constantly upset with judges for making the judges do things he thinks are dangerous and this attitude has gotten him in trouble at times. We get to see Steiner go through various ups and downs and his attitude really isn't any different no matter how he does. The film runs 45-minutes and remains entertaining throughout even if you aren't too interested in the material being talked about.

Herzog can dazzle, challenge. He's one of only two German filmmakers I think are worth watching. Yes, that goes all the way back.Even now, his formula of conflating fiction and truth, documentary and stylized narrative, risk and art still works, even when he's mostly just referencing himself. But he can still do some crazy stuff that doesn't work, at least for this viewer.What we have here is a celebration of an athlete. Herzog tries to make him a warrior of life. There's a supposedly poetic metaphor of his pet bird who had to be shot because he couldn't fly, and that was because its peers picked on it. Get it? There's the bit of him being a sculptor of merit, but when this man speaks of his art and what we dissolves that. And gee, he's German, and we hear a long diatribe about bad judges, not because they are bad, but because they are Yugoslav!No, he's the center of attention here simply because he takes risks. His art is in how far he is willing to go beyond safety. I would have liked a film (or even a sculpture) that this jumper did of Herzog. But this way, this thing we have, is a miss of huge proportions. We need Herzog as a risktaker, not as an admirer of one.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

After seeing this documentary "the great ecstasy of the sculptor Steiner" by Werner Herzog in 1974, I think this is a good story, but a little tricky "documentary". This 45 minutes long documentary basically recorded champion ski-jumper in a competition. I think the story basically is like other sports-related feature movies, no matter the commercial movies or not, and it gives confidence to audiences and encourages people to try their best and not to lose their hopes. Like most commercial Hollywood movies, like boxing, baseball, basketball and so on, this movie did make audiences moving. The happy ending - the protagonist broke the world record - made the movie more positive. However, I wonder if the whole story had been scripted in advanced? Firstly, it did not record other competition when the protagonist failed and the whole documentary only recorded this competition - the summit of his career. Second, the happy ending dramatized a little much for this film. The extremely slow motion with the background music portrayed the brave of the main character. Then when the reporter was worried about the main character and did not know what had happened to him, this documentary became too dramatic. After he finally got the championship, the story became too coincident. All these elements made this documentary a touching story but also a feature-like "documentary". By and large, the director dramatized the whole story to make this short film like a feature film (fiction film), and people may deeply get moved. Interestingly, the director used "documentary" this form to make the story more realistic and believable.