Joyeux Noël

Merry Christmas
File:MerryChristmasfilmPoster3.jpg 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
Edited by	Judith Rivière Kawa Andrea Sedlácková
Distributed by	UGC Fox Distribution (France) Sony Pictures Classics (U.S.A.)
Release dates	9 November 2005 (2005-11-09)
Running time	116 minutes
Country	France Germany United Kingdom Belgium Romania
Language	English French German
Budget	$22 million
Box office	$17,709,155

Joyeux Noël (English: Merry Christmas) is a 2005 French 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, which included one of the last appearances of Ian Richardson before his death, was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards. It is a fictionalized account of an actual event that took place in December 1914 when Wilhelm, German Crown Prince, sent the lead singer of the Berlin Imperial Opera company on a solo visit to the front line. Singing by the tenor, Walter Kirchhoff, to the 120th and 124th Württemberg regiments led French soldiers in their trenches to stand up and applaud.

Director Christian Carion has mentioned in the beginning of January 2015 that he is considering making a sequel centered on the lives of Lieutenants Horstmayer and Audebert.

Plot

The story centers 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 fiance, mezzo-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, who becomes a chaplain. 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 for an assault. However the assault failed with the French taking many casualties while William loses his life.

In Germany, Anna gets permission to perform for the soldiers 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. Sprink is initially against Anna's decision to go with him, but he agrees shortly afterward.

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.

Father Palmer is to be sent back to his own parish and his Battalion 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 new recruits, in which he describes the Germans as inhumane and commands the recruits to kill every one of them. Father Palmer overhears the preaching, and removes his cross as he leaves.

Back in the trenches, the Scots are ordered by a furious major (who is angered by the truce) to shoot a German soldier who is entering no-man's-land and crossing towards French lines. The soldiers deliberately miss in response but the German soldier is hit by a bitter Jonathan. Audebert, hearing the familiar alarm clock ringing outside, rushes out and discovers that the soldier is Ponchel. With his dying words, Ponchel reveals he had gained help from the German soldiers, visited his mother, and had coffee with her. He also informs Audebert that he has a young son named Henri.

Audebert's punishment is being sent to Verdun, and receives 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. Moved by this revelation, the general then recommends they "both try and survive this war for him".

Horstmayer and his troops, who are confined in a train, are informed by the Crown Prince that they are to be shipped to the Eastern Front, without permission to see their families as they pass through Germany. He then stomps on Jörg's harmonica, and implies that Horstmayer, as a Jew, 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

• Diane Kruger (singing voice: Natalie Dessay) as Anna Sørensen (Danish soprano, Sprink's wife)
• Benno Fürmann (singing voice: Rolando Villazón) as Private Nikolaus Sprink (German tenor)
• Guillaume Canet as Lieutenant Camille René Audebert (French 26th Infantry Regiment)
• Gary Lewis as Father Palmer (Scottish Roman Catholic priest and stretcher-bearer)
• Alex Ferns as Lieutenant Gordon (Scots Fusiliers)
• Dany Boon as Private Ponchel (Audebert's batman)
• Daniel Brühl as Leutnant (Lieutenant) Horstmayer (German 93rd Infantry Regiment)
• 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
• Lucas Belvaux as Gueusselin
• Steven Robertson as Jonathan
• Suzanne Flon as The Chatelaine
• Bernard Le Coq as Général
• Ian Richardson as the Bishop

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."

The 2011 opera Silent Night is based on the screenplay of the movie.

Ratings

The film was originally rated R in the USA. However, after Ebert criticized the rating, the MPAA officially changed the rating to PG-13.

Soundtrack

• "Ave Maria", performed by Natalie Dessay, The London Symphony Orchestra.
• "Bist du bei mir", performed by Natalie Dessay and Rolando Villazón.
• "I'm Dreaming of Home", performed by Griogair Lawrie, David Bruce, Ivan MacDonald and Calum Anthony Beaton (Bagpipe Ensemble)
• "The Braes of Killiecrankie", traditional.
• Piobaireachd - "The Cloth of Gold ", traditional.
• "Piobaireachd of Donald Dubh", 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 IMDb
• Merry Christmas at AllMovie
• 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)