Die Geierwally (2005)

When Wally Flender tries to rescue an abandoned eaglet, she is attacked by a large eagle. Only Joseph Gruber’s quick thinking prevents anything worse from happening. Her father, Franz Flender, disapproves of Wally’s decision to raise the young bird, which they name Hansi. Everything belongs in its proper place, he explains to little Hanni Gruber, Joseph Gruber’s daughter. Gruber’s wife, Liesel, died young. Franz Flender still hopes that his daughter and Joseph, who were once together, will become a couple again. Wally left Gruber back then to study in the city. Flender tells Joseph that he had to take out a mortgage on his farm. Wally knows nothing about it. If Wally and Joseph got back together, everyone would benefit. Joseph does not believe that Wally will give up her resistance to him. When Flender says that she has to obey him, Joseph replies that those days are long gone. At the local marksmen’s festival, a scene erupts when Wally refuses Joseph’s invitation to dance. As she runs off, Joseph calls after her amid general laughter: “Then go on and live with your vulture, Vulture Wally!” Wally leans against a wall and weeps bitterly; she still has not got over the fact that Joseph turned to another woman back then. Back at the farm, her father gives Wally another talking-to, trying to force her to marry the wealthy farmer and going so far as to beat his daughter. Wally packs her bags and retreats to a small alpine hut high in the mountains. Her young eagle follows her. Before leaving, she lets Joseph know that he is welcome to have the family farm, but he will never have her. When Joseph explains that he does not want the farm—it is heavily in debt and her father had asked him for help—she accuses him of lying. Joseph, who has learned from his little daughter where Wally is staying, finds her near her hut, collapsed in the meadow because a wound on her foot has become badly infected. Wally again brusquely refuses his offer of help. After that, she treats herself with herbs she has gathered, and the treatment works. Meanwhile, Franz Flender has come to realize that he went too far with his daughter, a realization for which Joseph is partly responsible. Veronika, the maid who works on his farm, offers to take his apology to Wally. But she has no intention of doing so and plays a double game. She tells the farmer that Wally said he was dead and buried to her, and tells Joseph, whom she would very much like to marry herself, similar lies. Shortly afterward, on an especially stormy night, Franz Flender’s long-ailing heart gives out, and he lies dying. Wally, sensing that something is wrong, hurries to her father. At his deathbed, Veronika’s intrigue is exposed, and she is turned off the farm. Father and daughter have time to talk things through before the old farmer closes his eyes forever. At last, Joseph and Wally find their way to each other.