So far, I’m really enjoying this loose action/thriller genre which comes as no surprise - I knew going in that most of these films would be totally my speed. We’ve been having a pretty stressful time lately with our house sale falling through so these loud, adrenaline-fuelled popcorn flicks have definitely helped keep a smile on my face. Also, the Euros are now over and, as most football fans will tell you, a soccer-less summer creates a vacuum in a man’s soul that simply must be filled. It’s great to have some testosterone-y goodness to look forward to and some daft, yuletide-tinged explosive action is just what the doctor ordered.
I’ll be honest, though - my next film, 2005’s Joyeux Noel is a lot less thrilling than its trailer led me to believe but it does have some shooting and explosions in it and it’s Christmassy and I watched it, so what the hell, I guess it counts. This one’s set during World War I, focusing on the extraordinary event that took place in war-torn No Man’s Land on Christmas Eve, 1914. On that day a ceasefire spontaneously took place in the trenches with French, German and British troops all laying down their arms to have a kick-about and take a time-out to celebrate the God they were all allegedly murdering each other in the name of.
It’s a film that happily points out the ironic contradictions of using the teachings of the bible as an excuse to shoot each other to death. Depressing early scenes depict children of the three separate nations all singing and chanting about the importance of vanquishing the enemy. Later, a British priest delivers a passionate sermon to the soldiers about how massacring the Germans is surely God’s work. So yeah, it’s another downer.
There are no ‘goodies’ or ‘baddies’ here, with Christian Carion’s film refusing to take sides, instead examining the insanity of war from the viewpoints of those on the frontline. It’s a trilingual affair, so prepare yourself for lots of subtitles but Carion has assembled an impressive Euro cast, including Daniel Bruhl and Diane Kruger.
Carion’s movie may take liberties with the truth about what really happened that Winter’s day but there’s no denying it’s effective, moving stuff. We focus on a few little stories such as that of Private Sprink (Benno Furrman) a German opera singer who has joined the fray and is reunited with his old Danish singing partner and lover Anna (Kruger) for one night for a bittersweet performance for the troops.
There’s also two Scottish brothers, Jonathan (Steven Robertson) and William (Robin Laing) who are initially excited to join the war along with their parish priest Palmer (Gary Lewis) but quickly realise life in the trenches is shite - literally.
The French are represented by Lt. Audebert (Guillaume Canet), pining over his wife and a newborn child he’s never met. Even worse, he’s lost her photo sending him further into the doldrums. During the ceasefire, Audebert gets chummy with Bruhl’s Horstmayer, a German lieutenant who found the long lost wallet containing said photo in No Man’s Land. What are the odds? Director Carion was apparently fascinated with the various stories that came out of the famed ceasefire and clearly put a lot of research into making this film, leaving me wondering if this cute moment genuinely happen
This is less a film about action and more about respite from bloodshed, about keeping Christmas pure, as a day for kindness, reflection and brotherhood. A great Frenchman, Francois Fenelon once said that “All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers.” Even better, Scouse band The Farm wrote one of my favourite songs ‘All Together Now’ about this whole event, though for some reason it’s not seen as a Christmas song. Madness.
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