Merry Christmas
Joyeux Noël / Merry Christmas (2002)
M, 116 minutes, English subtitles
Directed by Christian Carion
Starring Alex Ferns, Daniel Brühl, Guillaume Canet
This “world cinema” war drama, filmed in France and Germany, is performed in three languages, which simply adds to the authenticity of the story. Based on a battlefield event that occurred over Christmas at the start of World War I, the film’s dialogue interchanges between French, German and English (often spoken with broad Scottish accents), and uses subtitles to translate.
A write-up in our local cinema’s programme flyer attracted us to go see this movie on impulse. It was described as a “heart-warming dramatisation of how French, Scottish and German soldiers laid down their weapons on Christmas Eve 1914 to eat, drink and play soccer”. What we got to see was so much more than that!
Three of the main characters, military leaders – Scottish Officer Gordon, German Lieutenant Horstmayer and French Lieutenant Audebert – are torn between a host of loyalties: to their own countries, their regiments, their consiences and those of their men, to follow orders, to “the spirit of Christmas” and to humanity. This moving, realistic and very human portrayal of life in the trenches goes on to depict the struggle each soldier faces between getting on with the business of war, or showing, at least for this one Christmas, a familial loyalty to his fellow man, and facing the consequences that follow.
A Scottish priest, who is the on-site padre for the troops, tries to be a real spiritual counselor to all the men, regardless of nationality, and to bring the message of Christ to each one. However, again we see the battle of loyalties he faces – between doing what he believes Scripture teaches and listening to the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church.
Recommended viewing for older youth and adults, this movie has one moderate sex scene, low-level battlefield violence and no bad language that we can recall. Not a frivolous offering, like so much of what Hollywood has on show, but definitely a movie that will challenge viewers to think and feel.