Joyeux Noel

There are certain films that I will watch every Christmas without fail and Joyeux Noel quickly became one of them. It is a genuinely moving film about the 1914 Christmas Truce during World War I. The film focuses on three groups on the western front lines, a French, a Scottish and German regiment.

A German Tenor, now soldier, Nikolaus Sprink (played by Benno Furmann) is called from the front lines to sing in concert for a Christmas Eve party for a group of German generals with his wife Anna (played by Diane Kruger). Feeling his fellow soldiers could use a morale boost and the two return to the front lines to sing for the men together. When they arrive, they can hear the Scots singing "I'm Dreaming of Home." When Nikolaus and Anna begin singing "Adeste Fideles," they are surprised to hear the pipers begin to accompany them. The three sides step out of their trenches, gathering in No Man's Land and decide to call a truce for Christmas Eve. 

Small gifts of wine and chocolates are exchanged as the opposing sides find commonalities and become friends. The truce extends to the following day as they decide to bury the bodies of the dead. It is followed by an impromptu soccer match in the afternoon. Things get complicated as the three sides keep dragging out calling and end to the truce. Each side even invites the other side to ride out the artillery bombardment's in the other side's trench. 

The film was written and directed by Christian Carion who balances the stories of all three sides brilliantly. The film also moves between three languages, English, German and French, depending on which group we are with, with subtitles where needed. I know some viewers may roll their eyes at this, but I felt it helped with the realism of the scenes in a way. There are excellent performances all around, especially from Guillaume Canet, as Lt. Audebert, whose in charge of the French regiment and Daniel Bruhl as the German Lt. Horstmeyer. These two play wonderfully off one another, as they bond together over the course of a couple days. Horstmeyer reveals he honeymooned at a small hotel in France in the neighborhood where Audebert lives and reminisces about a cafe they liked. He says perhaps when the German Army takes Paris he can visit again. ("You don't have to invade Paris to come round for a drink," retorts Audebert.) 

It's moments like this that really gets one thinking and reflecting on the nature of war. If anything, Joyeux Noel functions as perhaps one of the best anti-war movies. It shows so perfectly, so wonderfully that if we could just put aside whatever conflict we have with each other, we can find find common ground with one another and see that deep down we're not all that different. The film also looks into what breeds this conflict in the opening scene of the film as three schoolboys, one English, one French, and one German recite the reasoning their countries went to war as was given by the media at the time. It's a jarring scene and certainly makes its point about propaganda and fear mongering that continues even today, through the likes of certain cable news networks. This is bookended at the end as the Scottish regiment's chaplain (played by Gary Lewis) overhears a priest giving a sermon preaching to their soldiers to fight their enemy, to destroy every last one of them that comes off as nothing less than chilling. 

In the end, this is a genuinely moving, heartfelt and incredibly well made movie that really leaves a viewer thinking. With fantastic performances and exquisite writing and directing, this is a film that really hits the mark. It's become a film I watch every Christmas without fail and is one that is well worth seeking out.