It's easy to forget, while we're all enjoying the largesse of the holidays, exchanging gifts and eating rich food and enjoying the company of our friends and loved ones, that there's not one, but two wars in which our country is deeply embroiled. I had forgotten myself until I got to the airport on December 20th to visit my old home town, and saw how many military personnel were in the airport ready to do the same. There were so many of them, and all so young: most of them were just exiting basic training, and spending one last holiday with their families before they got their deployment orders and shipped off to Iraq or Afghanistan, where they will risk their lives daily in service of a conflict whose purpose becomes murkier with every passing day. It reminded me of the penultimate film I'd watched for the Screengrab 12 Days of Christmas Marathon: Joyeux Noel.
The background of Christian Carion's 2005 film is an odd but inspiring bit of World War I history: on Christmas Eve of 1914, German soldiers celebrated the holiday by placing little candles and miniature Christmas trees along the edges of the trenches in which they'd toiled and died since the war began. A few began singing Christmas carols in their native language. More or less spontaneously, they were joined by regiments of Scotsmen and Frenchmen, who at first sang along or favored the enemy with their own carols, and later made the brave -- or foolhardy -- gesture of actually leaving the trenches to meet their opposite numbers in No Man's Land. Precious rations and luxury items were exchanged as gifts; stories were told and songs were sung by those who shared a language.
For over a week, the unsanctioned -- yet completely successful -- truce remained in place. The Allies and the Central Powers played soccer together, exchanged photographs of their loved ones back home, and helped each other bury their dead, who had lain rotting in the free-fire zone. No shots were fired and no one was killed during that period, as ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances accomplished a peace that even the Pope had been unable to achieve. It would seem nonsensical -- and Carion's highly emotional film a manipulative piece of overly idealistic sentiment -- if it hadn't really happened, and been widely reported by witnesses in their letters home. For one brief period, the common humanity of these armed men, most of whom had no idea what they were fighting for, overcame the loathing of their commanding officers.
And it's the reaction of those commanders that provides Joyeux Noel with its grim gut-punch. As predicted by the film's memorable opening, where a choir of innocent, angelic-looking babes sing beautiful hymns pleading God for the utter destruction of their enemies, and as echoed in a chilling scene where a chaplain, delivering a speech to a group of new Scots recruits brought in to replace those who would not fight after their convivial encounter with the enemy, claims that the annihilation of the Germans is forgivable in God's eyes because the Germans are not beloved by Him, the leaders on all sides order a swift and merciless punishment for the high crime of refusing to kill one's fellow human being. The British generals vow that no such truce will ever be allowed again, and rotating shifts of soldiers are instituted in order to ensure that no one becomes too cozy with the fellows across the trench. Joyeux Noel isn't a perfect film. The characters are often caricatures, and it lets its rank sentimentality pile up to bothersome levels at times. But it's a beautifully made film, with some tip-top acting from a largely unknown cast, and it gathers a massive power simply from the truth of its existence. As we find ourselves losing more of our children, our loved ones, our friends to a war that, like World War I, didn't need to start and should never have been allowed to continue, it's devoutly to be wished that both sides of these struggles are trying to find that common thread of humanity that led to a near-miracle in 1914. Even for those -- like myself -- who aren't of a religious bent, there's a powerful message here, as the official voices of God urge bloodshed and destruction, while the base sinners out in the field find themselves feeling the universal peace and brotherhood taught by Jesus Christ.
12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS RATING: A tragic nine ladies dancing, the same way that Diane Kruger's Danish opera singer performs for the troops before seeing the true horror -- and the true humanity -- behind the war. Joyeux Noel (which was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars, the BAFTA Awards, and the Golden Globes) will surely bring a tear to your eye, and lead you to reconsider what it really means to support the troops.
Related Posts:
The Screengrab's 12 Days of Christmas Marathon: It's a Wonderful Life
The Screengrab's 12 Days of Christmas Marathon: The Dead
