Joyeux Noël

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Merry Christmas

Theatrical poster
Directed by Christian Carion
Produced by Christophe Rossignon
Benjamin Herrmann
Written by Christian Carion
Starring Benno Fürmann
Guillaume Canet
Daniel Brühl
Diane Kruger
Gary Lewis
Alex Ferns
Music by Philippe Rombi
Cinematography Walther van den Ende
Editing by Judith Rivière Kawa
Andrea Sedlácková
Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
(U.S.A.)
Release date(s) November 9, 2005
(France)
November 11, 2005
(U.S.A.)
Running time 116 minutes
Country France
Germany
United Kingdom
Romania
Language English
French
German
Budget ~ $22,000,000

Joyeux Noël (English: Merry Christmas) is a 2005 film about the World War I Christmas truce of December 1914, depicted through the eyes of French, Scottish and German soldiers. It was written and directed by Christian Carion.[1]

The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards. The film was one of Ian Richardson's last appearances before his death on February 9, 2007.

Contents

[edit] Plot

This film is based on the true stories of the World War I Christmas ceasefires along the Western Front.

The story centers mainly upon six main characters: Gordon (a Scottish Lieutenant); Audebert (a French Lieutenant and reluctant son of a general); Horstmayer (a Jewish German Lieutenant); Palmer (a British priest working as a stretcher-bearer); and German tenor Nikolaus Sprink and his Danish lover Anna Sorensen (two famous opera stars).

The film begins with flashbacks of schoolboys being taught to recite messages that both praise their countries and breed hatred of their enemies. In Scotland, two young brothers, Jonathan and William, join up to fight, followed by their Roman Catholic priest, Palmer. Nikolaus Sprink is interrupted during a performance to be recruited. Audebert looks at a photograph of his pregnant wife whom he has had to leave behind (in the occupied part of France, just in front of his trench), and prepares to exit into the trenches.

On Christmas Eve, the Scots and French lead a combined assault on the German trenches in France. One of the Scottish brothers, William, is wounded and his brother Jonathan has to abandon him in no-man's-land as they retreat.[2] Audebert loses his wallet (with the photograph of his wife) in the German trench in the confusion.

In Germany, Anna manages to get permission to perform for Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, and Sprink is allowed to accompany her. They spend a night together and then perform. Sprink finds it difficult at first to sing, but, with encouragement from Anna, manages to do so beautifully. Afterwards he expresses bitterness at the comfort of the generals at their headquarters, and resolves to go back to the front to sing for the troops. Anna promises to go with him.

It all begins when the Scots begin to sing Christmas songs, accompanied by bagpipes, and then Sprink responds by singing for his German comrades and exits his trench with a small Christmas tree singing "Adeste Fideles". He leaves the tree in the middle of no-man's-land. The French, German, and Scottish officers meet and agree on a cease-fire for the evening. The various soldiers meet and wish each other "Joyeux Noël","Frohe Weihnachten" and "Merry Christmas." They exchange photos of loved ones, chocolate, and champagne. Horstmayer gives Audebert back his wallet, with a photograph of his wife inside, after the latter shows him a drawing he made of her. It also turns out that Horstmayer stayed with his wife at the same hotel as Audebert on their honeymoons. Palmer and the Scots celebrate a brief mass (in Latin, to which all troops respond in unison) and the soldiers retire deeply moved. Meanwhile, Jonathan, remains unmoved by the events around him and refuses to celebrate or show any form of compassion.

On Christmas Day the officers have coffee together and decide to "bury their dead on the day Christ was born". Later they also play a football match against each other. The following day, after sheltering each other during an artillery barrage, the commanders decide it is time for all of them to go their own way. While parting, Audebert tells Horstmayer that his (Horstmayer's) French is better than his (Audebert's) German. Horstmayer responds by telling Audebert that he doesn't have a German wife (meaning Horstmayer is married to a French woman). The French, Scottish, and German soldiers now must face the inevitable consequences from their superiors.

Nikolaus Sprink is to be arrested for "disobedience", while Anna is to be sent back to Berlin. Both remain with the French after they are sheltered from the artillery barrage, and ask to be taken prisoner so as to remain together.

Palmer is to be sent back to his own parish and his regiment disbanded. He is rebuked by the Bishop, who proceeds to preach to the troops to "kill the Germans, good or bad, young or old. Kill every one of them so that it won't have to be done again". Palmer departs, leaving his cross behind.

Back in the trenches, the Scots are ordered by a Major (who did not participate in the truce) to shoot a German soldier who dares to go over no-man's-land. They do not, with the exception of the vengeful Jonathan, who manages to kill him. The soldier is revealed to be Ponchel, the local Ch'ti aide to Audebert, disguised as a German. With his dying words, Ponchel reveals he had a German help him see his mother and have coffee, as they had in times before the War. He also informs Audebert that he has a son named Henri.

The French Lieutenant is reprimanded by his General, who happens to be his father, and sent to Verdun as a punishment. He assures General Audebert none of the troops will talk about the incident, but not out of shame, only because no-one would believe or understand them. The Lieutenant bursts out, telling his father he does not understand what the men go through on the front lines. As the General is about to leave, his son also informs him about Henri, and in turn he advises that they "both try and survive this war for him". {The general also reveals that a cat the Germans sent over with a message to the French about "Comrades" has been arrested for "High Treason"}

The Germans are informed by the Crown Prince himself they are to be shipped to the Eastern Front, without having the opportunity to go on leave to see their families while they pass through Germany. He then takes Jörg's harmonica and stomps on it repeatedly. Turning to Horstmayer, he points at his Iron Cross and comments it is handed "out to just anybody". As the train departs, they start singing a Scottish carol they learned during the events which will eventually become the tune for L'Hymne des Fraternisés'/ I'm Dreaming Of Home. As their train pulls away the word "Tannenberg" is painted on the side of the cars. This was the site of the great German victory over the Russians—and also referenced in the classic World War I film with a similar theme, the Grand Illusion, but with regards to the German dead and futility of war.

[edit] Differences from the true story

The plot in the movie differs from the actual Christmas truce in at least one major factual way: the movie depicts the Scots as the instigators of the ceasefire by being the first to sing Christmas carols and bring on the Christmas cheer, whereas in actual fact it was the German side who sang the first carols and made the first overtures towards a ceasefire that night. This however may have been adhered to in some respect with the role Nikolaus Sprink plays in the event.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Critical reception

Stephen Holden, film critic for The New York Times, liked the motion picture and called it a "visually sweeping film", also believed the drama's anti-war sentiments were high-minded. He wrote, "If the film's sentiments about the madness of war are impeccably high-minded, why then does "Joyeux Noël," [...] feel as squishy and vague as a handsome greeting card declaring peace on earth? Maybe it's because the kind of wars being fought in the 21st century involve religious, ideological and economic differences that go much deeper and feel more resistant to resolution than the European territorial disputes and power struggles that precipitated World War I. Another reason is that the movie's cross-section of soldiers from France, Scotland and Germany are so scrupulously depicted as equal-opportunity peacemakers that they never come fully to life as individuals."[3]

Critic Roger Ebert also wrote about the sentimentality of the film, ""Joyeux Noël" has its share of bloodshed, especially in a deadly early charge, but the movie is about a respite from carnage, and it lacks the brutal details of films like "Paths of Glory," [...] Its sentimentality is muted by the thought that this moment of peace actually did take place, among men who were punished for it, and who mostly died soon enough afterward. But on one Christmas, they were able to express what has been called, perhaps too optimistically, the brotherhood of man."[4]

[edit] Ratings

The film was originally rated R in the USA, however after film critic Roger Ebert criticized the rating,[5] the MPAA officially changed the rating to PG-13.

The film was banned in Malaysia.[1]

[edit] Soundtrack

  • "Ave Maria," performed by Natalie Dessay, The London Symphony Orchestra.
  • "If you are with me," performed by Natalie Dessay and Rolando Villazón.
  • "I'm Dreaming of Home," performed by Griogair Lawrie, David Bruce, Ivan McDonald and Calum Anthony Beaton (Bagpipe Ensemble)
  • "The Braes of Killiecrankie," traditional.
  • "Piobaireachid dhomhnail dhuibh," traditional.
  • "Silent Night"
  • "Adeste Fideles," traditional, performed by Roland Villazón (vocals), Griogair Lawrie (bagpipes).
  • "Auld Lang Syne," Scottish traditional.
  • "L'Hymne des Fraternisés/I'm Dreaming of Home," performed by Scala & Kolacny Brothers, Natalie Dessay, The London Symphony Orchestra.

[edit] Awards

Wins

Nominations

  • Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, France; 2006.
  • Golden Globes: Golden Globe, Best Foreign Language Film, France; 2006.
  • British Academy of Film and Television Arts: BAFTA Film Award, Best Film not in the English Language, Christophe Rossignon and Christian Carion; 2006.
  • César Awards, France: César, Best Costume Design (Meilleurs costumes), Alison Forbes-Meyler; Best Film (Meilleur film), Christian Carion; Best Music Written for a Film (Meilleure musique), Philippe Rombi; Best Production Design (Meilleurs décors), Jean-Michel Simonet; Best Supporting Actor (Meilleur second rôle masculin), Dany Boon; Best Writing - Original (Meilleur scénario original), Christian Carion; 2006.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Joyeux Noël (2005)". IMDb. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424205/. Retrieved November, 11, 2009. 
  2. ^ Byrnes, Paul (December 16, 2005). "Christmas pudding of a production tries to satisfy all and ends up pleasing none.". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/film-reviews/joyeux-noel/2005/12/16/1134703597523.html?page=2. Retrieved April 11, 2009. 
  3. ^ Holden, Stephen (March 3, 2006). "Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas) (2005) A Christmas Truce Forged by Germans, French and Scots". New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/2006/03/03/movies/03noel.html. Retrieved April 11, 2009. 
  4. ^ Ebert, Roger (2009-03-10). "Joyeux Noel". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060309/REVIEWS/603090304/1023. Retrieved April 11, 2009. 
  5. ^ Ebert, Roger (2006-03-10). "Failure to Launch". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060309/REVIEWS/60308002/1023. Retrieved April 11, 2009. 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyeux_No%C3%ABl"