Joyeux Noel (Widescreen)
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Movie Reviews of Joyeux Noel (Widescreen)
Movie Review: Real Event
Summary: 5 Stars
I always have to laugh at snotty reviews that criticize movies for their historical inaccuracies. Guess what? They're movies, not history books! As a history professor, this beautiful production does in fact reflect the Christmas truce of 1914 in a relatively accurate manner. It is a conglomeration of incidents that occurred all along the Western Front on Christmas. Yes, a professional singer did sing Silent Night at one spot. Yes, soldiers on both sides of no-man's land fraternized, trading chocolate for wine (among other things). And yes, military authorities on both sides were outraged at the informal truces, and tried to make sure nothing like it ever happened again.
The film also does a great job of portraying the naivety that Europeans (and eventually Americans) entered the war with. I agree that the trench scenes are too clean and don't reflect the true horror of trench warfare. But I also think that people who say that there is little of historical value in this movie don't know much about World War I. That's typical of amateur historians who try to pass themselves off as great intellectuals. If there is little of historical value here, I wonder what they think actually happened during the Christmas truce of 1914.
Movie Review: Excellent, very moving
Summary: 5 Stars
A very good and moving French made film about the Christmas truce between the troops in the Western Front in 1914 during World War I. That day, English, French and German troops spontaneously stop shooting at each other and tentatively went to no man's land, where they end up exchanging gifts and even play an improvised soccer game. When superiors of all the countries involved learned about this, they naturally objected in the strongest terms about the fraternization, so an episode like this never happened again in the rest of the conflict (I first learned about this historical incident in the 1980s through Paul McCartney's video Pipes of Peace).
Sentimental but never manipulative, pacifist but not terribly preachy, this film has a solid, old fashioned narrative style, as well as a very beautiful photography. It is also benefited by very fine performances, even if I'm not familiar with most of the actors. The only one I recognize was pretty Diane Kruger, as a Danish soprano visiting the German front to pass the time with her German lover, a fellow opera singer (her moving performance of Ave Maria in front of the troops is one of the highlights of the film, even if she was naturally dubbed by a real opera singer). Highly recommended.
Movie Review: Affirming the best in our universal humanity
Summary: 5 Stars
What soldiers are asked to endure during war breaks my heart more and more. I am so very tired of war and war mongering.
My father was called back in the Korean War and went so that his son would not have to take care of unfinished business.
What a horrible waste war is! What beautiful film this is not only in how it is artistically crafted but in the message it brings to life! We are so much more alike than different. We could build such glorious civilizations and monuments to human genius if we would only decide that every human life is precious and deserves to be preserved and nourished. To accomplish that we would all have to look at each other one on one - no nationality dividing us, no religion, no race, no ethnicity. All members on one race - the human race.
How stupid can men and their wartime bureaucracies be?
A cat really was charged with treason, and it was shot to death!
The officers allowing this truce and fraternization truly deserve the epithet "officers and gentlemen". Personal honor meant something more then, I think.
Beautiful picture - stirring and lasting message to all. Thank you very much for this marvelous film. Please do watch it!
Movie Review: Unforgetable Message!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of those stories that is unforgetable. I bought it for a friend of mine who is a retired military. The story involves three bunkers of front line troops: Germans, French and Scots in WWI. You see the lives of key players before they are inducted into service; some are volunteers and others are not. You know each personal journey before the story's challenge begins. The message of the story revolves around Christmas Eve and every one's loneliness. Some are just a few miles away from their homes. Each bunker has a unique way that they are trying to celebrate. Curiosity starts to take over as each bunker's close proximity reveals a startling commonality...different languages but same music. As they reach out to each other, the leaders start to take risks, too. Some of the scenes are unforgetable and so spiritually touching. A high price is paid for their 24 hour truce and heartfelt actions. Core integrity and morality are put to the test and each makes his choice. If you like true stories with morals to them, this one is a big winner. It turns out that there was more than one group that fateful night that broke down the barriers of hate in the name of peace.Movie Review: ...ET IN TERRA PAX.
Summary: 5 Stars
This moving film is the best Christmas movie to date, the more so because the events depicted actually happened (1914), and not only in the Ypres trenches but in several points along the entire Western Front. That anonymous enemies decided all of a sudden to stop the war for a moment of worship and merriment may smack of "sentimentality" to some, but that's the whole point! That even at the worst of times, humanity is the basic nature of mankind. Don't forget these soldiers faced a court martial, even a firing squad, for their brief night of sanity!
Do yourself a favor and watch it this Christmas, instead of all those Rudolphs, Frosties, Grinches, Elves and their like, that only blur the true meaning of the holiday. Let's put the Christ back in "Xmas" (I loathe this spelling) by remembering we are all our brother's keeper!
P.S.: Come to think of it, there's a scene where the lovely Ms Kruger appears in her birthday suit. So unless you are willing to give the kiddies an unusual yuletide surprise, I suggest you push the skip>forward button in the remote. Better still, watch it a first time by yourself, and then rely on your own judgement!