Das Wunder des Schneeschuhs

1920 Documentary 65 minutes Directed by Arnold Fanck

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About Das Wunder des Schneeschuhs

Arnold Fanck's documentary follows skiing in the Alps at the start of the 1920s. The camera stays on the skiers, including Hannes Schneider, Sepp Allgeier, Ernst Baader, and Bernhard Villinger, and on Fanck himself.

Cast & crew

More about Das Wunder des Schneeschuhs

Arnold Fanck and Odo Deodatus Tauern directed and wrote it for Berg- und Sportfilm. IMDb lists a release of December 23, 1920, and 65 minutes. Another listing says 66. English titles used later include The Wonders of Skiing and Marvels of the Snowshoe. Footage was cut into Die weiße Kunst (1924).

Themes

  • skiing filmed on the snow
  • slow motion on a turn
  • skiing
  • Alps
  • Hannes Schneider
  • Arnold Fanck
  • Ernemann
  • documentary

Making

Fanck's company, Berg- und Sportfilm, put the cameras on the slopes with the skiers rather than on a set.

Technique

A Dresden Ernemann camera, able to run up to 500 frames a second, was used for the skiing.

Notes

  • Hannes Schneider, later the name attached to the Arlberg technique, is one of the skiers on screen.
  • Sepp Allgeier, who shot many later Fanck films, appears in this one.
  • An IMDb note says Fanck used a Dresden Ernemann camera that could run as fast as 500 frames a second.
  • The German title means the wonder of the snowshoe, the period word for the ski.

Scenes

  • Skiers are filmed at speed on the open slope.

Influenced

  • Die weiße Kunst (1924)