“The Oak – My Home”: Documentary about the favorite tree of the Germans

In the cinema
“The Oak – My Home”: A nature documentary about the favorite tree of the Germans

The Germans’ favorite tree now has its own documentary: “The Oak – My Home” has just been released in cinemas. An oak tree was filmed through the four seasons.

Quercus robur – a somewhat odd name for a movie star. In fact, an imposing pedunculate oak is at the center of this documentary. More than 200 years old and equipped with a lush crown, it stands at the edge of the forest and looks out over a small lake. The oak is considered the favorite tree of the Germans, also because of its suitability for rustic wall units. But the example in “The Oak – My Home” is French, as are the makers in the background.

Directors Laurent Charbonnier and Michel Seydoux have long been experts on nature with feeling. One has already directed the camera for classics such as “Nomads of the Air”, the other produces comedies such as “Pear Cake with Lavender”. Your current work no longer has much in common with old-fashioned contributions by Sielmann or Grzimek. For more than a year they accompanied their tree through the seasons, at the end of which the lively goings-on of squirrels, jays and wood mice as well as two action interludes with hawks and adders were helped with special effects and animal trainers.

The organic spectacle is nevertheless excellent for marveling at and admiring. The focus is on the oak tree, which defies all weather stoically like a barky Robert De Niro. But the secret hero is the acorn borer, an insect from the weevil family. As he piggybacks, the only sex scene in the film, Dean Martin sings in the background. He later narrowly escapes a frog, a spider, and a boar several times. When drilling holes in acorns, he looks like a soul sucker in “Harry Potter”. Its Latin name: Curculio glandium. Sounds like a gladiator.