Close Up

26 September 2017: The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner + God’s Angry Man

 

The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner
Werner Herzog
1974 | 45 min | Colour | Digital

“Herzog’s most memorable films have a euphoric effect, making the audience aware of the full potential of life. In the worlds his films create and observe, anything is possible and even achievable. For example, a simple craftsman can extend the limits of human existence. In Herzog’s oeuvre, this film, like the ski-flying abilities of Walter Steiner, ranks near the very top.” – Michael Koller

God’s Angry Man
Werner Herzog
1980 | 46 min | Colour | Digital

“‘Americans,’ Herzog once observed, ‘believe that they are normal, that they make sense, and that the rest of the world is exotic. They do not seem to understand that they are the most exotic people in the world right now.’” – J. Hoberman

Dr. Gene Scott, the notorious televangelist whose paranoid grandiosity and fevered rantings made him easily the most complex of his ilk, is the wildly entertaining subject of God’s Angry Man. Herzog visits Scott on the set of the long-running nightly TV show Festival of Faith, filming him in both contemplative and full-on freakout modes; as he hurls bizarre, uncomfortable proclamations towards his at-home audience, Scott reveals himself to be not only passionate about his own teachings, but equally passionate about his own myth of personality.” – The Cinefamily


Part of our season on Werner Herzog