Joyeux Noel (Widescreen)
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.94 You Save: $9.05 (60%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $3.97 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Joyeux Noel (Widescreen)
Movie Review: "A Time for Every Season Under Heaven"
Summary: 5 Stars
Famously, World War I was broken up in its first year when three sides broke into song on Christmas Eve and joined one another from their trenches for festive comraderie. What if they gave a war, and everyone said, "Time out?" Nevertheless, despite good will for Christmas, their determination to keep the olive branch going was smoldered by too many outside forces to sustain a complete cease fire. Hardly idealistic, they made a truce and intermingling amongst enemies until the final "Auld Lang Syne". Four subjects are the focal point of the drama: A famous German tenor who is a soldier (and his siren girlfriend) on the French front, a Scotish Anglican priest, and a French Lieutenant. Inspiring and heart-mending, 'Joyeux Noel' (Merry Christmas) has the power to make us pause and believe that life without war could become a self-fulfilling prophecy if only we would let it. The very fact that the cease fire was brought about by music is itself an overpowering reminder of what we can all hold dear. (Garth Brooks made "Belleau Wood" from 'Sevens' about this event.)
The extras are nice trimmings. Director Christian Carion gives a revealing and concise interview in one of the DVD extras. Although the movie is already set to go to English subtitles for the French and German trench scenes, I found you have to activate the English subtitles to follow along with the French director. He does an excellent job of sorting through fact from conjecture, a satisfying task given the nature of historical fiction. (Based on actual events.)
Movie Review: A Perfect film for Christmas
Summary: 5 Stars
My father fought in the American army in the Alsace-Lorraine area of France in WWI. He brought home a German helmut, which hung in our garage for years. I used to look at it, hanging over his work bench, with the pointed spike on top, but never thought much about who had worn it originally.
Now as I see this film, Joyeuse Noel, I am especially moved, for the actual true events of this amazing event and for what my father must have endured. Like so many others, he never talked about his war experiences except the happy times when some French families entertained the American soldiers in their homes.
The film shows in a moving but unsentimental way, the events that happened along the front one Christmas. We see the build-up--the way the children of the three countries involved were taught to hate the others and we see the reality of the soldiers losing their buddies to the enemy. And yet, through the magic of Christmas, for a brief moment, the hatred stopped and love prevailed. If the event had not actually happened the film probably would have been dismissed as totatally unrealistic. The fact that it did happen, can make us hope that some day the moments of dropping down our weapons will last longer than one day.
The writer/director does the story justice. He balances the grim realities of war and the heartlessness of many in authority with the humanity of the ones who dared to rise above the rules. It's a beautiful film...and should rival "It's a Wonderful Life" as a holiday tradition.
Movie Review: GREAT MOVIE!!! A MUST SEE!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Joyeux Noel (Widescreen) is a war movie set during the World War One era; the famous "Trench war". This movie is based on the true events that occurred during Christmas Eve of 1914 where 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".
This movie places all of the known and documented historical events of the unauthorized truce into a section on the front lines. This movie does not glorify any side of the battle; it merely shows each side's viewpoint.
The truce extends into Christmas day where each side begins to help the other side with burying the fallen solders in "No Man's Land". Even with the language barrier between each side, the soldiers quickly learn they are all alike. They show photos of their wives and families back home. They realize "the enemy" is just as human as they are, and not the monster they were trained to hate. The solders proceed to play cards together, drink together, and even have a soccer game. Keep in mind this is all historically accurate.
Word of the unauthorized truce gets back to the higher rankings and they must put an end to it. How can you have war if your solders don't want to fight?
I loved this movie. The story of each side is very well told, and the history of the events is very accurate. This is one of the few movies where I played it again right after it ended.
Movie Review: Conclusively shows we can stop war
Summary: 5 Stars
I respectfully encourage all serious reviewers to avoid the video review option. The video review sacrifices both rapid scanning of diverse views, and the ability to create added value from automated text search.
I am adding this DVD to my list of Serious DVDs, while also using the product link feature, which I like very much, to connect you immediately to other DVDs I recommend.
The DVD is made even more powerful by being based on a true story, how a German opera singer was reunited with his wife in order to sing for the Crown Prince, then took here to the trenches and started singing such that the Scots responded, then the French, and ultimately they agreed to a local cease fire for the night.
This movie has to be viewed to appreciate the depth and reality of its message.
Other movies that have impressed me with their messages of insane war and possible peace:
Why We Fight
The Fog of War - Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara
Peace One Day
Tibet - Cry of the Snow Lion
Movie Review: PEACE ON EARTH, GOODWILL TO ALL MEN!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Based on a true story that took place on Christmas Day, 1914, during WWI, this film depicts the worst and best of the human spirit. On the one hand, it shows the brutality and insanity of war as we see men in the trenches literally being sacrificed by those calling the shots from the comfort of their headquarters. Trench warfare was brutal and the trenches were separated by only 50-100 yards. Soldiers tried to capture the enemies' trench by crawling on their stomachs across 'no-man's land' and surprising the other side or just plain attacking and hoping to overpower them with numbers and force. Much of the fighting was fought at very close range with bayonets or rifles. Living in the trenches during the winter was especially bitter with the cold and snow. But in 1914 something happened that showed that the power of Christmas and the Prince of Peace can overcome (at least for the moment) the hatred and fighting. It was an amazing evening under the stars as enemies came together in worship and fellowship and dropped their weapons to recognize there is One who has come and will come again to bring peace to the world and overcome all the differences that currently separate men from one another. The film personalizes the story through the lives of four people showing their lives before the war and how they arrived at the same place on earth that same night. A very inspiring movie about the true meaning of Christmas and 'Peace On Earth'.