Joyeux Noël

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 (2005-11-09)
Running time	116 minutes
Country	France Germany United Kingdom Belgium Romania
Language	English French German
Budget	$22 million

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. It was screened out of competition at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.

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.

Plot

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

The story centres mainly upon six characters: Gordon (a Lieutenant of the Royal Scots Fusiliers); Audebert (a French Lieutenant in the 26th Infantry and reluctant son of a general); Horstmayer (a Jewish German Lieutenant of the 93rd Infantry); Palmer (a Scottish priest working as a stretcher-bearer); and German tenor Nikolaus Sprink and his Danish lover, soprano, Anna Sørensen (two famous opera stars).

The film begins with scenes of schoolboys reciting patriotic speeches that both praise their countries and condemn their enemies. In Scotland, two young brothers, Jonathan and William, join up to fight, followed by their priest, Father Palmer. In Germany, Sprink is interrupted during a performance by a German officer announcing a reserve call up. 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.

A few days before Christmas, the Scots and French troops lead a combined assault on the German trenches in France. The attack causes heavy casualties on both sides, but does not break the stalemate of trench warfare. One of the Scottish brothers, William, is mortally wounded during the attack, and his brother Jonathan is forced to abandon him in no-man's-land as they retreat. 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. Afterward, Sprink 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.

The unofficial truce begins when the Scots begin to sing festive songs and songs from home, accompanied by bagpipes. Sprink and Sørensen arrive in the German front-line and Sprink sings for his comrades. As Sprink sings Silent Night he is accompanied by a piper in the Scottish front-line. Sprink responds to the piper and exits his trench with a small Christmas tree singing "Adeste Fideles". Following Sprink's lead the French, German, and Scottish officers meet in no-man's-land 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 chocolate, champagne, and photographs of loved ones. Horstmayer gives Audebert back his wallet, with a photograph of his wife inside, lost in the attack a few days prior, and connect over pre-war memories. Palmer and the Scots celebrate a brief Mass for the soldiers (in Latin as was the practice in the Catholic Church at that time) and the soldiers retire deeply moved. However, Jonathan remains totally unmoved by the events around him, choosing to grieve for his brother.

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 one another during an artillery barrage, the commanders decide it is time for all of them to go their own way. The French, Scottish, and German soldiers now must face the inevitable consequences from their superiors. As the Germans return to their own trenches after the Allied barrage, Sprink and Anna quietly remain with the French and ask to be taken prisoner, so as to remain together.

Father Palmer is to be sent back to his own parish and his regiment disbanded as a mark of shame. Despite emphasising the humanity and goodwill of the truce, he is rebuked by the bishop, who then preaches an anti-German sermon to fresh troops.

Back in the trenches, the Scots are ordered by a major (who is furious over the truce) to shoot a German soldier who dares to enter no-man's-land and cross towards French lines. While other soldiers refuse, vengeful Jonathan shoots the German, mortally wounding 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 visited his mother, and informs Audebert that he has a young son named Henri.

Audebert's punishment is being sent to Verdun, as well as a dressing down from his father, a general. In a culminating rant, young Audebert upbraids his father, expressing no remorse at the fraternization at the front, and also his disgust for the civilians or superiors who talk of sacrifice but know nothing of the struggle in the trenches. He also informs the general about his new grandson Henri; the general recommends they "both try and survive this war for him".

Horstmayer and his troops are informed by the Crown Prince himself that they are to be shipped to the Eastern Front, without permission to see their families as they pass through Germany. He then stamps on Jörg's harmonica, and implies that Horstmayer does not deserve his Iron Cross. As the train departs, the Germans start humming a Scottish carol they learned from the Scots, L'Hymne des Fraternisés'/ I'm Dreaming Of Home.

Cast

Leading roles, in credits order.

• Diane Kruger (singing voice: Natalie Dessay) as Anna Sørensen, Danish soprano, Sprink's lover
• Benno Fürmann (singing voice: Rolando Villazón) as Private Nikolaus Sprink, German tenor
• Guillaume Canet as Lieutenant Audebert, French 26th Infantry Regiment
• Gary Lewis as Father Palmer, Scottish Roman Catholic priest and stretcher-bearer
• Dany Boon as Private Ponchel, Audebert's batman
• Daniel Brühl as Lieutenant Horstmayer, German 93rd Infantry Regiment
• Alex Ferns as Lieutenant Gordon, Royal Scots Fusiliers
• Steven Robertson as Jonathan, Scottish soldier
• Frank Witter as Jörg, German soldier
• Bernard Le Coq as Major-General Audebert, French divisional commander, Audebert's father
• Ian Richardson as English Bishop
• Lucas Belvaux as Private Gueusselin, French soldier
• Thomas Schmauser as Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany
• Joachim Bissmeier as Major-General Zimmermann, German divisional commander
• Robin Laing as William, Jonathan's younger brother
• Michel Serrault as Le Châtelain, owner of a French château used as the German headquarters
• Suzanne Flon as La Châtelaine, his wife

Selected other roles, in alphabetical order.

• Philipp Brammer as Hans, German soldier
• Christian Carion as British Medical Orderly
• Christopher Fulford as Royal Scots Fusiliers Major
• Mathias Herrmann as German Officer at Headquarters
• Neil McNulty as Scottish Soldier

Critical reception

Stephen Holden, film critic for The New York Times, liked the motion picture and called it a "visually sweeping film," and 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."

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."

Ratings

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

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 Rolando 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.

Awards

Wins

• Leeds International Film Festival: Audience Award, Best Feature, Christian Carion; 2005.
• Valladolid International Film Festival: FIPRESCI Prize, Christian Carion; 2005.

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.

External links

• Official website
• Joyeux Noël at the Internet Movie Database
• Merry Christmas at AllRovi
• Joyeux Noël at Box Office Mojo
• Joyeux Noël at Metacritic
• Joyeux Noël at Rotten Tomatoes
• Joyeux Noël film review at European-films.net
• Construction of a monument in France (French)
• Joyeux Noël indirect testimony. French letter dated January 6, 1915 (French)