In December 1914, an unofficial Christmas truce on the Western Front allows soldiers from opposing sides of the First World War to gain insight into each other's way of life.
In 1914, World War I, the bloodiest war ever at that time in human history, was well under way. However on Christmas Eve, numerous sections of the Western Front called an informal, and unauthorized, truce where the various front-line soldiers of the conflict peacefully met each other in No Man's Land to share a precious pause in the carnage with a fleeting brotherhood. This film dramatizes one such section as the French, Scottish and German sides partake in the unique event, even though they are aware that their superiors will not tolerate its occurrence.Written by
Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
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. See more »
Goofs
In the film the musical exchange is prompted by the Scottish troops: in reality, most incidents began with the German troops singing carols from their trenches (but not exposing themselves to the enemy - both sides remained in their trenches) with the opposing troops countering with carols of their own. The film was advertised as "based on a true story", but neither the marketing nor anything in the film claims it to be a historically accurate account of the events. At the end of the closing credits it states, the story is based on a compilation of various documented events which took place along the front during WW1. Director Christian Carion said in the DVD commentary that he included Scots, rather than English, in the story because he wanted bagpipe music. See more »
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 ...
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Wow! Joyeux Noel was a great movie. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this film but found it to be moving, heartwarming and a wonderful cinematic experience.
The fact that the story is based on real events that happened shows that their is some good in humans across the world. In this story, all sides are respected as humans and the soldiers come to understand that under God, we are all one.
Please, even if you don't normally go to foreign language films or war movies, go to this film. The war scenes are not prolific. You will come out changed and smiling from the inside out!
57 of 66 people found this review helpful.
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Wow! Joyeux Noel was a great movie. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this film but found it to be moving, heartwarming and a wonderful cinematic experience.
The fact that the story is based on real events that happened shows that their is some good in humans across the world. In this story, all sides are respected as humans and the soldiers come to understand that under God, we are all one.
Please, even if you don't normally go to foreign language films or war movies, go to this film. The war scenes are not prolific. You will come out changed and smiling from the inside out!