European Films

A temporary cease-fire during a war that comes about because of Christmas-sentiment sounds like the stuff a screenwriter might come up with for an old-fashioned holiday season weepie, but the European co-production Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas), which portrays such an unlikely event, is based on a true story. Skilfully directed, acted and shot, the Christian Carion film is unapologetically melodramatic and has every right to -- it’s true story pedigree guaranteeing that no-one will be able to complain that such things do  (or at least did) not happen in the real world.

In the last wintry months of 1914 the First World War had barely started, but the people in the trenches believed the war would be a matter of weeks rather than years. Just before Christmas the Germans, led by Horstmayer (Daniel Brühl, from Good bye, Lenin!) have lined up against the allied front of the French (led by Guillaume Canet’s Lieutenant Audebert) and the Scots, led by Gordon (Alex Ferns).

Amongst the Germans is the famous tenor Nikolaus Sprink (Benno Fürmann), who has been drafted into the army just like anyone else, much to the displeasure of his Danish girlfriend Anna Sörensen (Diane Kruger), who is also an opera singer. Through the right connections, she is able to come and visit him at the front and on Christmas eve Sprink and Sörensen find themselves together in the trenches. When they hear the Scots playing their bagpipes, the tenor-come-soldier, with all the flair of a man of the theatre, hops out of the trenches into no man’s land, singing on the top of his longs with only a Christmas-tree for protection.

The universality and sentimentality of the peace-preaching Christmas songs hesitantly lead the three commanding officers to call a temporary truce. But rather than staying in their respective trenches, each side soon joins the officers in no man’s land for an exchange of Christmas wishes, chocolate and spirits, only to find (not unsurprisingly) that the enemy is more similar to them than the war-propaganda would have them believe. As Lieutenant Audebert later puts it "we [the French soldiers] have more in common with the German soldiers than with the French politicians that are sending us off into war." But what are the consequences of this? Where and when does the Christmas spirit end and do they have to revert back to killing one another, as their respective countries demand and expect of good soldiers?

 

In the deceptively simple screenplay written by the director, the exploration of the characters and the ideas of patriotism and fatherland (which are so important in keeping up the troops’ morale) are cunningly entwined. Our group of protagonists is a miniature version of the cosmopolitan and completely interconnected European patchwork of countries and the European motto “In varietate concordia” (United in diversity). Mutual respect and -violence have always dominated European history. Carion’s treatment of these grand themes is alternated with the careful observation of small details (including the ever present lice and the endless waiting for battle rather than continuous fighting) which rings true and adds a layer of authenticity often lacking in period films. A small scene involving Anna running into the French owners of what is now the German headquarters at the front underlines the tragic nature of war perfectly: the husband wants nothing to do with Anna (while she is not even German, though he does not know that) while his wife tries to look past the war to see the human being, despite the fact that the war has robbed her of her own home.

 

The actors, led by Fürmann’s inspirational performance, are in great shape and are given a detailed period setting designed by Jean-Michel Simone as their stage. The occasional hiccough (obvious lip-synching of the opera singers, the lack of visible "cold breath" in the outdoor scenes) are minor and the film’s later scenes, which deal with the consequences of the short-lived fraternisation, have such a strong contemporary resonance that it is hard to dismiss the film’s overall force. Schmaltzy to just the right extent and supported by its true Christmas theme of peace between the nations, Joyeux Noël is destined to unite audiences across the continent and become a holiday season perennial.

 

This film was screened as part of the 2005 Flanders Film Festival at Ghent.

 

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