Joyeux Noel (2005) Joyeux Noël (original title)

Director:

Christian Carion

Writer:

Christian Carion (written by)

Release Date:

9 November 2005 (France)

Genre:

Drama | History | Music | Romance | War

Tagline:

Without an enemy there can be no war.

Plot:

On Christmas Eve during world War I, the Germans, French, and Scottish fraternize and get to know the men who live on the opposite side of a brutal war, in what became a true lesson of humanity.

Plot Keywords:

German | French | Lieutenant | Truce | Christmas

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Diane Kruger	...	Anna Sörensen (as Diane Krüger)
Natalie Dessay	...	Anna Sörensen (singing voice)
Benno Fürmann	...	Nikolaus Sprink
Rolando Villazón	...	Nikolaus Sprink (singing voice) (as Rolando Villazon)
Guillaume Canet	...	Audebert
Gary Lewis	...	Palmer
Dany Boon	...	Ponchel
Daniel Brühl	...	Horstmayer
Lucas Belvaux	...	Gueusselin
Alex Ferns	...	Gordon
Steven Robertson	...	Jonathan
Frank Witter	...	Jörg
Bernard Le Coq	...	Le général
Ian Richardson	...	L'évêque
Thomas Schmauser	...	Le Kronprinz
Joachim Bißmeier	...	Zimmermann
Robin Laing	...	William
Michel Serrault	...	Le châtelain
Suzanne Flon	...	La châtelaine
Calum Beaton	...	Joueur de cornemuse écossais (as Calum Anthony Beaton)
Otto Beckmann	...	Soldat Allemand - Otto
Philippe Beautier	...	Morallec
Steffen Bielig	...	Markus
Nicholas Biggam	...	Enfant anglais
David Bruce	...	Joueur de cornemuse écossais
Christian Carion	...	Infirmier
France Corbet	...	Madeleine
Mickey Dedaj	...	Couturier (as Micky Dedaj)
Steven Duffy	...	Brancardier
Tom Duncan	...	Soldat écossais
Roy Entwistle	...	Soldat écossais
Markus Friedmann	...	Officer allemand salle d'état major
Christopher Fulford	...	Le major
Michael Grimm	...	Soldat allemand - Michael
Jannis Hensel	...	Enfant allemand
Mathias Herrmann	...	Officer allemand quartier général
Jan Hutter	...	Soldat allemand - Herbert
Joe Johnson	...	Soldat écossais
Fraser Johnston	...	Soldat écossais
Gary Lamont	...	Soldat écossais
Griogair Lawrie	...	Le joueur de cornemuse
Gerrard Lynch	...	Soldat écossais
Ivan MacDonald	...	Joueur de cornemuse écossais
Jordan McCurrach	...	Soldat écossais
Neil McNulty	...	Soldat écossais
Tony Matthews	...	Général Britannique
Florian Mescam	...	Enfant francais
Emun Mohammadi	...	Soldat écossais
David Mullen	...	Soldat écossais
Michael Pascher	...	Soldat allemand - Walter
Ian Petrie	...	Soldat écossais
Andy Ramsay	...	Soldat écossais
Marc Robert	...	Guimond
Peter Rühring	...	Officier allemand á l'Opéra
Allan Sawers	...	Soldat écossais
Friedemann Thiele	...	Karl
Johannes Richard Voelkel	...	Gunther (as Johannes Voelkel)
Gilbert von Sohlern	...	Officier allemand d'accueil
Mark Wood	...	Soldat écossais
Alexander Wüst	...	Oskar
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Philipp Brammer	...	Soldat allemand
Vlad Coada	...	German Hardcore no. 3 (uncredited)
Christophe Rossignon	...	Un lieutenant (uncredited)
Jonas von Lingen	...	Soldat allemand (uncredited)

Directed by
Christian Carion

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Christian Carion		written by

Produced by
Philippe Boeffard	....	associate producer
Andrei Boncea	....	co-producer
Christopher Borgmann	....	co-producer
Marielle Duigou	....	assistant producer
Bertrand Faivre	....	co-producer
Soledad Gatti-Pascual	....	co-producer
Benjamin Herrmann	....	co-producer
Genevieve Lemal	....	associate producer
Alexandre Lippens	....	associate producer
Daniel Marquet	....	associate producer
Kate Ogborn	....	co-producer
Patrick Quinet	....	co-producer
Christophe Rossignon	....	producer

Original Music by
Philippe Rombi

Cinematography by
Walther van den Ende		(director of photography) (as Walther Vanden Ende)

Film Editing by
Judith Rivière Kawa
Andrea Sedlácková

Casting by
Susie Figgis
Sabine Schroth

Production Design by
Jean-Michel Simonet

Art Direction by
Vraciu Eduard Daniel
Anina Diener
Ève Machuel		(executive art director)

Set Decoration by
Patrick Colpaert

Costume Design by
Alison Forbes-Meyler

Makeup Department
Emmanuelle Brechet	....	makeup artist
Gabi Cretan	....	key makeup artist
Andreea Dardea	....	makeup artist
Julie David	....	makeup artist
Brigitte Laurent	....	hair and wig artist
Tony Rocchetti	....	hair and wig artist
Josette Roger	....	hair and wig artist
Amber Sibley	....	makeup designer
Hovette Stephanie	....	wig maker
Caitlin Tanner	....	makeup artist
Andreea Tudose	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Julien Azoulay	....	post-production manager
Marc Dalmans	....	unit manager
Michael Frenschkowski	....	production supervisor: Germany
Florian Haeger	....	assistant unit manager: Germany
Norbert Kneissl	....	unit manager: Germany
Ève Machuel	....	executive in charge of production
Stéphane Riga	....	production supervisor
Andreea Stanculeanu	....	executive in charge of physical production
Adrian Sturges	....	post-production supervisor: UK
Iuliana Tarnovetchi	....	unit production manager (as Iuliana Stefan)
Mihai Toderiae	....	production manager: Scotland
Bernard Vander Donckt	....	production manager: BE

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alina Alexandrescu	....	trainee assistant director: Romania
Christoph Brosius	....	third assistant director: Germany
Tudor Cotovelea	....	trainee assistant director: Romania
Roger Delattre	....	second assistant director
Marie Doller	....	trainee assistant director: France
Daniela Dreyer	....	trainee assistant director: Germany
Alex Fotea	....	third assistant director: Romania
Claire Guillabert	....	trainee assistant director: France
Philippe Larue	....	first assistant director
Beju Marius	....	trainee assistant director: Romania (as Marius Beju)
Patrick McGurn	....	third assistant director: Scotland
Thorne Mutert	....	second assistant director
Virgil Nicolaescu	....	second assistant director: Romania
Ana Lisa Persson	....	trainee assistant director: France
Sînziana Pop	....	trainee assistant director: Romania
Pascal Salafa	....	first assistant director
Silvian Voinea	....	trainee assistant director: Romania

Art Department
Cristian Baluta	....	assistant property master
Iulian Bostanaru	....	set designer
Florin Gavrila	....	scenic painter
Andreas Horstmann	....	property master: Germany
Liviu Marcu	....	sculptor
Cristian Mihaila	....	property buyer
Madalina Mitu	....	key set decorator
Vlad Panaitescu	....	set construction manager
Adrian Popa	....	property master
Geaniloni Sandru	....	scenic painter
Eusebiu Sirbu	....	scenic artist
Guillaume Watrinet	....	property master
Marcus Wellendorf	....	property master: Germany
Peter Wolf	....	propmaker

Sound Department
Nicolas Becker	....	foley artist
Nicolas Becker	....	sound effects
Nicolae Comarzan	....	assistant sound
Thomas Desjonquères	....	supervising sound editor
Marius Emil Stanescu	....	boom operator
Séverin Favriau	....	assistant sound editor
Dean Humphreys	....	sound re-recording mixer
Craig Irving	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Pascal Jasmes	....	assistant sound
Pascal Jasmes	....	boom operator
Mark Kenna	....	consultant: Dolby film sound
Mark Lafbery	....	foley recordist
Pierre Mertens	....	sound
Gilles Missir	....	post-synchronisation sound engineer
Sandy Notarianni	....	dialogue editor
Sam Southwick	....	foley editor
Jean-Noël Yven	....	sound effects editor

Special Effects by
J.C. Burgeois	....	special effects assistant
Joshua Clement	....	special effects assistant
Olivier de Laveleye	....	special effects coordinator
Razvan Pascal	....	special effects translator
Antoine Vander Winkel	....	special effects assistant

Visual Effects by
Sebastien Gombeaud-Saintonge	....	Flame artist: Mac Guff Ligne, Paris
Antonin Seydoux	....	compositor
David Tomaszewski	....	digital compositor
Martial Vallanchon	....	visual effects supervisor

Stunts
Vasile Albinet	....	stunt performer
Gabi Burlacu	....	stunts
Madalin Dragan	....	stunts
Ciprian Dumitrascu	....	stunt coordinator
Daniel Pisica	....	stunt performer
Dorin Zaharia	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Lupsa Armand	....	electrician
Radu Cioplea	....	video operator
Sandu Constantin	....	electrician
Julien Covens	....	grip
Adam Dale	....	aerial director of photography
Dominique Degand	....	grip
Koen Firlefijn	....	key grip
Didier Frateur	....	first assistant camera
Chris Hacken	....	gaffer
Témoudjine Janssens	....	grip
Jean-Claude Lother	....	still photographer
Radu Marinescu	....	best boy grip
Jean-Paul Meurisse	....	camera operator
Catalin Nicolae	....	electrician
Florin Niculae	....	gaffer (as Florin Nicolae)
Jan Rubens	....	Steadicam operator
Gunther Schockaert	....	electrician
Bjoern Susen	....	gaffer: Germany (as Björn-Yves Susen)
James Swanson	....	aerial director of photography
Wim Temmerman	....	electrician
Gideon van Essen	....	lighting technician
Vincent van Gelder	....	second assistant camera
Nicolae Vasile	....	electrician
Bruno Verstraete	....	co-gaffer

Casting Department
Grégory Caloire	....	casting trainee: France
Domnica Circiumaru	....	extras casting: Romania
Laure Cochener	....	casting: kids, France
Marcel Dykiert	....	extras casting assistant
Ana Dávila	....	casting: kids, Germany
Michaela Iacob	....	extras casting assistant: Romania
Iris Müller	....	extras casting: Germany
Andreea Tanasescu	....	casting director: Romania (as Andrea Tanasescu)
Jacqueline Wawrzyniak	....	extras casting: France

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Anne Le Montagner	....	wardrobe
Radu Mada	....	wardrobe supervisor
Bujoi Mariana	....	costumes
Claudia Sarbu	....	set costumer
Bunny Stokes	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Serge Anthony	....	grader
Céline Cloarec	....	additional assistant editor
Nicolas Criqui	....	digital conformation
Matthieu de Braconier	....	post-production coordinator: UK
Julie Delord	....	second assistant editor
Mickael Dumontier	....	digital conformation
Eric Duriez	....	post production manager
Frederic Jupin	....	lustre editor
Philippe Reinaudo	....	digital intermediate technical director
Raymond Terrentin	....	digital colorist
Clement Zveguintzoff	....	digital conformation

Music Department
Benjamin Caillaud	....	music editor
Chorale Scala	....	musician
Edouard Dubois	....	music consultant
Mathias Duhayer	....	chorus singer
Carmine Lauri	....	musician: violin solo
The London Symphony Orchestra	....	orchestra
Orchestre Symphonique Bel'Arte	....	orchestra
Stéphane Reichart	....	music scoring mixer
Simon Rhodes	....	music scoring mixer
Géraldine Rombi	....	music supervisor
Philippe Rombi	....	conductor
Philippe Rombi	....	musician: piano solo
Philippe Rombi	....	orchestrator

Transportation Department
Daniel Huhn	....	personal driver: Christophe Rossignon, Germany
Andrei Sendrea	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Sean Barclay	....	location finder
Martin Bauernfeind	....	title design
Cécile Bonardi	....	voice coach
Marc Bossaerts	....	répérages
Teo Bostanica	....	base camp administrator
Irene Iovan Calangiu	....	production coordinator: Romania (as Iovan Irene)
Guillaume Colboc	....	documentalist
Mircioiu Cristian	....	set runner
Annette Drees	....	script supervisor
Sophie Fortat	....	production accountant
Astrid Gavard	....	publicist
Charles Heidet	....	car supplier
Pauline Jardel	....	production coordinator
Christophe Julien	....	choristers
Jean-Claude Lecoq	....	armorer
Fiona MacMillan	....	production coordinator: UK
Gabriel Mamruth	....	production accountant
Michèle Massé	....	location scout
Sylvie Michel-Casey	....	script supervisor
Amalia Morar	....	cast accountant
Anton Petrache	....	armorer: Romania
Adrian Radu	....	location assistant
Philippa Robson	....	assistant to producers: UK
Philippa Robson	....	production coordinator: UK
Julien Sabourdin	....	production controller
Dominique Segall	....	publicist
Anna Slater	....	production coordinator
Juliane Spaete	....	production assistant: Germany
Sally Steele	....	publicist
Cindy Thomson	....	location manager: UK
Iulian Timofte	....	key set production assistant
Iulian Timofte	....	production assistant
Bernard Vander Donckt	....	production administrator

Thanks
Michel Serrault	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Nord-Ouest Productions
• Senator Film Produktion (co-production)
• Bureau, The (co-production)
• Artémis Productions (co-production) (as Artemis Productions)
• Media Pro Pictures (co-production)
• TF1 Films Production (co-production)
• Les Productions de la Guéville (co-production)
• Canal+ (participation)
• CinéCinéma (participation)
• Sat.1 (participation)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• Eurimages (supported by)
• Région Nord-Pas-de-Calais (supported by)
• C.R.R.A.V (participation) (as le C.R.R.A.V.)
• Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (supported by)
• Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA) (supported by)
• Le Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral de Belgique (supported by)
• Soficinéma (in association with)
• Cofimage 16 (in association with)
• Uni Etoile 2 (in association with)
• Sogécinéma 3 (in association with)
• Groupe Un (in association with)
• SCOPE Invest (in association with)
• Nippon Herald Films (in association with) (as Nippon Herald)
• Cinéart (in association with)
• Films Distribution (in association with)
• Cofinova 1 (in association with)

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Atalanta Filmes (2005) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2005) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Cinéart (2005) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Festive Films (2005) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Filmcoopi Zürich (2005) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Future Film (2005) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Kadokawa Herald Pictures (2006) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Les Films Séville (2005) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Miracle Film Distribution (2005) (Denmark) (theatrical)
• Senator Film (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2006) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2005) (UK) (theatrical)
• UGC-Fox Distribution (UFD) (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• Vértigo Films (2005) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Atlantic Film (2006) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Bir Film (2006) (Turkey) (all media)
• LK-TEL (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2006) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Senator Home Entertainment (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• UGC Video (2006) (France) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Mac Guff Ligne

Other Companies

• Abbey Road Studios  score recording
• Aerial Camera Systems  helicopter gyrostabilized camera system
• All Deco International  sculptures
• Flying Pictures  aerial filming services provided by
• Marchetti  end credits
• SFX Works  opening credits
• Studio Davout  music recording
• Titra Film Paris  subtitles
• Virgin Classics  soundtrack

Also Known As:

"Joyeux Noël" - France (original title)
"Merry Christmas" - UK (informal literal title), USA (informal literal title)
"Happy Christmas" - International (English title) (informal literal title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 on appeal for some war violence and a brief scene of sexuality/nudity (re-rating on appeal)

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

France | Germany | UK | Belgium | Romania | Norway

Language:

French | German | English | Latin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Australia:M | Ireland:12A | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:M18 | Norway:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Singapore:PG (edited version) | Finland:K-11 | USA:PG-13 (re-rating on appeal) | Malaysia:(Banned) | Australia:MA (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Sweden:11 | Portugal:M/12 | USA:R (originial rating) | UK:12 (video release) | UK:12A | Germany:12 | South Korea:15 | Brazil:14

Filming Locations:

France

Company:

Nord-Ouest Productions

Trivia:

The character of the Male opera singer is based on that of German tenor Walter Kirchhoff (1879-1951), who travelled to the front in order to perform for the troops. His performance was met by cheers from the French lines, where upon he decided to climb on to no-mans-land to see who was cheering.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When either Nikolaus sings alone, or in a duet with his love Anna, it's very obvious he is not singing himself. The singing voice is clearly different from his spoken voice, and the song's words don't match with the lips (for both Nikolaus and Anna) on several occasions.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Enfant francais:Child, upon these maps do heed This black stain to be effaced Omitting it, you would proceed Yet better it in red to trace Later, whatever may come to pass Promise there to go you must To fetch the children of Alsace Reaching out their arms to us May in our fondest France Hope's green saplings to branch And in you, dear child, flower Grow, grow, France awaits its hour.
Enfant anglais:To rid the map of every trace Of Germany and of the Hun We must exterminate that race We must not leave a single one Heed not their children's cries Best slay all now, the women, too Or else someday again they'll rise Which if they're dead, they cannot do.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Paths of Glory (1957)

Soundtrack:

Piobaireachid dhomhnail dhuibh

a new xmas classic

I have always had an interest in WW1 and when I discovered that a film about that conflict was being released, I knew I'd have to see it as soon as possible. This is a very special movie. Telling the story of the extraordinary Christmas truce between waring soldiers in the trenches at Christmas 1914, it demonstrates just how ludicrous war really is and how the human spirit can overcome blind hatred. Performances, cinematography and direction don't really matter in this film. Though all these elements are of a high quality. What's important about this film is its message. It is a "feel good movie" with a difference. The difference is that the plot is based on a true event.

It is sure to become a fixture on Christmas T.V. listings over the coming years. But go and see it now. Particularly if, like me, your beginning to get cynical about this time of the year.