Joyeux Noel

Last night I went to special screening of Joyeux Noël ahead of it's release on 22nd of December.

Wow, what an amazing movie. As a rule I generally tend to blacklist war movies but this so different.

This is in no way about the glorification of war but instead tells a tale of a group of human beings that see past their differences for one night.

Apparently all based on true events known as the The Christmas Truce of 1914.

I highly recommend this movie to any and all.

I was sceptical before watching this film but by the end I had tears running down my cheeks.

By depicting the feelings and destinies of the soldiers, the film demonstrated the absurdity of war and how each soldier is more than a mere cannon target. It is a commentary on the utter stupidity of politics governing war events from behind curtains while not actually experiencing the real war. By depicting a unique event in European war history that occurred on Christmas day 1914 it shows viewers that Europeans can be as one even as "enemies".

About ten years ago I watched Paul McCartney's video "Pipes of Peace" and thought that what it depicted was completely fictitious--nothing more than pacifists' dreams. I have now learned that it was true.

This very touching story about a true occurrence during the first Christmas of the Great War is very moving. Although the truce was not a generalized event, it did happen in quite a few areas all along the front line. It was the only moment of sanity in an otherwise gruesome experience in futility. Twenty years later, these same countries would be at it again.Karl Marx said that wars are awful events pitting ordinary people (proletariats) one against another for the benefit of the wealthy, the powerful, the aristocrats. This aspect is depicted very well in this movie. I would just like to add a footnote: Alfred Anderson, the last survivor of the Christmas Truce of 1914 died November 21th, 2005 at a nursing home in his native Scotland. He was 109 years old. Lest we forget.

I was looking forward to finding out how this historical yet forgotten event would be put to film, and how accurately it would be depicted. I am not disappointed. This evokes emotion without ever slipping into sentimentality or sap. It personalizes without robbing the true occurrence of attention. There is focus put on certain characters(all of which are quite well-written), but never to the point of such being lost on what really happened. The plot is great, and develops well. Some liberties are taken with the story, and they are not all justified, but the core is kept intact, and this manages to both tell what happened and make us feel and care about it. The overdubbed singing could have been subjected to better synchronization, but there is little to any criticisms directed at the acting itself. The same goes for the production value. The technical aspects of this are excellent, as well. The cinematography and editing are just about flawless. Pacing is rather good. Writing and directing are commendable. All three sides each speak the actual languages, adding to the already well-established sense of realism. I recommend this to anyone interested in the period, and the specific situation in particular. 8/10

Wow! Joyeux Noel was a great movie. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this film but found it to be moving, heartwarming and a wonderful cinematic experience.

The fact that the story is based on real events that happened shows that their is some good in humans across the world. In this story, all sides are respected as humans and the soldiers come to understand that under God, we are all one.

Please, even if you don't normally go to foreign language films or war movies, go to this film. The war scenes are not prolific. You will come out changed and smiling from the inside out!