Die Wiese (5 Stars)

The film's title means "The Meadow". And that's what it's about. I don't know whether it's correct to call it a documentary. It's a nature film, and what a nature film! There must have been a lot of technical expertise put into making the film. Flowers are shown opening and closing. Animals are shown close up. 

The film takes place over a period of 12 months, from spring to spring. At the start of the film we see a female deer (a doe) having two babies. We see them again several times in the course of the film. Always in close up shots.

This is the cameraman/filmmaker, Jan Haft. We don't see him in the film itself, he's always behind the camera. He made the film in northern Germany, close to the Polish border.

The film makes statements about conserving the environment, but they're balanced. For instance, the narrator defends the yearly mowing of the meadow. He says that if the meadow weren't regularly trimmed the land would become a forest, destroying the unique wildlife in the meadow.

I don't have the exact figures, but the film was a financial success when it was released in 2019. It was a popular film for visits by school classes. It's overwhelmingly beautiful.