Saturday, December 19, 2009

A Christmas movie worth watching



If you have never seen it, rent and watch the movie Joyeux Noel in this Christmas season. Even though it was nominated for an Academy Award ("Best Foreign Film") and a Golden Globe I had never heard of this flick. A movie store in Shallotte went out of business a few weeks ago and I saw a sign out front that their remaining DVD's were 99 cents each. I went in and picked up several that sounded good and I am glad Joyeux Noel was among them.


The movie is based on the true story of a spontaneous Christmas Eve truce declared by French, German and Scottish soldiers mired in trench warfare in World War I (1914). It started when the Germans began singing "Silent Night" and the opposing soldiers across the way joined in. I'll stop there, but the result of one night of peace was amazing and costly. I think it would be a great film even if it were purely a work of fiction. But it is astounding that this is a screen adaptation of an a event that really happened.


A tag line is, "How can there be a war if there is no enemy?" There are subtitles, but many scenes, including the ones involving the night of peace, are in English. Christianity Today did an article on the movie that you can find here.

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