There's a pretty good chance you haven't heard of this movie, called "Joyeux Noel," but you may be familiar with the event that it is based on. In the early stages of World War I, French, Scottish and German troops laid down their weapons for a Christmas Eve truce. They came out of their trenches and shared food and drinks, played soccer, sang songs, exchanged pictures . . .then returned the next day and resumed the war.
The movie dramatizes these events and I'm sure probably fictionalizes them a bit, although from the actual accounts I've read, it's fairly accurate. It's mostly a subtitled movie (it's made in France) although many passages are in English in dealing with the Scottish troops.
You won't find this one playing non-stop during the holiday season like "A Christmas Story" or any of the others, but it's worth seeking out (if you don't mind subtitles). The scene where the troops tentatively come out of their trenches when they hear Christmas carols coming from the other side is particularly well done.
No comments:
Post a Comment