Silent Night

Die-hard "Unsolved Mysteries" fans will remember the wonderful story told by a man named Fritz about a Christmas eve in the German woods when he and his mother were visited by American soldiers seeking to get out of the cold. It was a lovely story if you just stopped there, but German soldiers soon arrived and wanted to get out of the cold as well! The mother insisted that everyone lay down their weapons and have a Christmas dinner, and they did so. One of the soldiers was wounded, and the soldiers on the other side helped him. They all spent the night with no incident, realizing that on whatever side you were on, you were still a human being.

Well, if this didn't have all the makings of a movie, what does? The story, of course, has been vastly expanded to include some conflict and some insight into the personalities involved. In real life, there wasn't intense communication since there were language barriers.

This is a Christmas story that embodies the true meaning of the season in every sense of the word, all the more poignant because it's true. The performances are all wonderful. In real life, Fritz, who emigrated to America and became a baker, was looking to connect with the GIs he had met. The show found one of the old soldiers in a nursing home, and as he and Fritz reminisced, it was obvious that to both of them, the incident happened yesterday.

This movie is highly recommended. It's about a remarkable woman who understood the term "peace on earth."

While movies made solely for television generally have a stereotype for being mediocre, this outstanding movie breaks records easily. It covers a true story, of a boy during WWII with his not so traditional mother. It tells the story of how soldiers of both sides come to share a Christmas with them.

One of my favorite aspects of this film was that it did not have the excess violence, gore, profanity, etc. It seemed to me that it was just an honest, down-to-earth type. It is not made up of thousands of dollars worth of special effects or an hour and a half of cars being blown up. The characters are not overly evil, good, or perfect. They acted as if they were the actual people that the events had happened to. Wonderful acting, I think.

The storyline is filled with twists and turns, heart-breaking moments and even a little humor. It is a perfect film for any family, especially during the holidays. I am sure if someone got real nitpicky there are a few errors, but to me, everything is pretty darn close to being perfect. I sincerely recommend it to someone looking for a truly good film.

**I suggest that you google "Fritz Vincken" after watching the movie. There are numerous interviews with him about the real events and his life after the war ended. I find them very inspiring.

I saw this story originally I believe on "Unsolved Mysteries" a few years ago and I thought to myself "this story would make a great movie," and wondered how long it would take for someone to realize what a movie of this caliber could do for people. I see that it didn't take as long for that realization, as I thought it would.

In one of the most heartfelt performances in her life, Linda Hamilton, as Frau Elisabeth Vincken, a woman living alone with her young son who has her own demons to deal with and her own dislike of the war that has torn her country and family apart, has managed to pull off what few other women could have with the strength and believability that she did.

World War II...Christmas Eve...all the makings for a dreary night in the trenches with not much to celebrate one would think.

Not so for this movie and the heartstrings definitely get a good pulling in this film.

The animosity between the German and American soldiers when they first meet is evident and Martin Neufeld puts in one heck of a performance as Lt. Hans Klosterman, a bitter, loyal to the death, and unbending German officer. The hatred, the anger that he feels toward the American soldiers, especially Sgt. Ralph Blank, played with hard realism by Alain Goulem; who seems to butt heads from the get go with the battle hardened Lt., who have come seeking shelter for the evening in the home of Frau Vincken is palpable and makes for a very believable situation. More than once I felt myself torn between hating Neufeld's character and having hope for his heart to soften.

As has already been said, this story was based on a real life occurrence. Sometimes fact can be more beautiful than fiction and this movie is ironclad proof.

If any film needed levity and laugh now and then, it was this movie, and that call was quickly and with an outstanding performance, answered by Private Jimmy Rassi, played with expert talent by Romano Orzari. This actor really put his heart into his performance and the result was a character that was not only heartwarming but completely and utterly believable.

If you want a movie that can convey the message of what Christmas is REALLY about, then you must see this film. It will make you think, it will make you laugh, it will make you cry...it will give you hope that our future, if we could simply put aside our differences could be a lot brighter than what people could ever dream...

I think most love a true story and this one to me is one of the best. I loved this movie the first time I saw it but each time since, I fall in love with it a bit more. Set in a time in our history where death and war (World War II) were on every mind, this sweet story shows how love and friendship can happen even between strangers who are bitter enemies forming a friendship that can and actually does wind up lasting a lifetime. It opens as a battle rages on showing the horrors of war while a mother and her son try to find a safe haven in the family cabin. Little did they know on that special Christmas Eve so long ago that something was going to happen that would change their lives forever. Enemies met in that small space and an understanding grudgingly developed between people even surprising them at the end and bonding them for life. Hopefully all will make a point of going back in time and experiencing this amazing true story. You won't be disappointed.

I found this movie while flipping through the channels early one morning in December/2005. I had missed the first 10 minutes and just had to buy the DVD. Although it plays loosely with the facts, something the film industry has a hard time adhering to, it nevertheless is an wonderful movie made for TV for the Hallmark Channel.

It is based on the short story "Truce in the Forrest" and "The Night God Came for Dinner" by Fritz Vicken. Unlike the movie, communication was done between Fritz's mother Elisabeth, who spoke some French and one of the American soldiers who also spoke a little French. Only one of the Germans spoke some English.

Both the movie and real life incident showed that these people could put their differences aside and found they were much alike in many ways. Unlike the conflict between the Germans and Russians, there wasn't that level of hatred unless they were dealing with the SS. I've found many stories where soldiers put their differences aside to help each other out, from a German officer stopping an American jeep at a checkpoint that was carrying a wounded GI, then directing them to the American lines, to the pilot of an ME-109 who came upon a crippled B-17 and rather than shooting it out of the sky, escorted it to the English Channel and made sure it was going to make it safely back before peeling away. Ironically, the pilots of those 2 warplanes found each other in the later years and became close friends. That's what this movie does it to show the human side of our "enemy" and leaves you hoping they made it out of the war OK but it does leave you wondering what ever happened to them.

Fritz Vicken was able to locate Sgt. Ralph Blank in a Maryland nursing home after years of searching for the soldiers, thanks to "Unsolved Mysteries". Sadly, Fritz Vicken died the year this movie was released. What is ironic is that Fritz immigrated to this country after the war, like so many German soldiers and civilians. Our former enemies were now productive Americans. Fritz owned a bakery in Honolulu for many years.

I've added this movie to my Christmas holiday collection.