Joyeux Noel
Short description
Set during the first Christmas of World War I, the film follows soldiers on opposing sides of the Western Front who set down their weapons and step into no man's land to meet one another. Among them are a German tenor pulled from the opera stage, the soprano who loves him, a French lieutenant, a Scottish priest serving as a stretcher-bearer alongside his young helper, and a German officer. What begins as an exchange of cigarettes, chocolate and songs on Christmas Eve grows into a brief truce that touches the French, Scottish and German trenches alike, drawing the suspicion of the authorities who expect the men to keep fighting.
Christian Carion wrote and directed the film, which stands as the earliest of the three features listed in his directing credits. The international cast includes Diane Kruger, Benno Fürmann, Guillaume Canet, Gary Lewis, Dany Boon and Daniel Brühl, with 61 credited cast members and 68 credited crew across a co-production involving Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Romania and France.
Released in 2005, the film runs 116 minutes and was made for a budget of 22 million dollars, against a worldwide box office of 18 million. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.6 from around 34,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.4 from roughly 950 votes. A critics' rating of 6.9 from 112 reviews places it somewhat below the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- This film is dedicated to all the soldiers who fought on various fronts during Christmas 1914 and who initiated a Christmas truce on the front lines that day.
- In October 2009, American composer Kevin Puts began writing an opera based on the film "Merry Christmas" (2005) for the Minnesota Opera. The opera, titled "Silent Night," premiered in Minnesota in 2011. A year later, it won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Musical Composition, and in February 2013 – with most of the original performers – became part of the repertoire of the Philadelphia Opera. The librettist, Mark Campbell, closely followed the film's plot.
- The events depicted in the film take place in August 4, 1914 and December of the same year.
- The opera singer was modeled after the real tenor Walter Kirchhoff (1879-1951) from Germany, who traveled to the front lines of World War I and performed for active army units. After one such performance, Kirchhoff heard applause from trenches nearby, occupied by the French. Kirchhoff then went out onto neutral ground to see who was applauding him.
- Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers, and a Saxon infantry regiment actually played football during Christmas 1914. In 2008, representatives of the armed forces of Great Britain and Germany sent their teams to France for a football match in memory of this event.
- Judging by the patches on the glengarry (Scottish national headdress), the Scottish regiment shown in the film is the Royal Scots Fusiliers. On December 20, 1914, an infantry regiment of the British Army occupied trenches in the Uplands area of France and remained there until the following year; however, letters from numerous eyewitnesses make it clear that it was precisely the fusiliers who initiated the football match with the Saxons on no man’s land.
- The film is based on the chapter "The Incredible Christmas of 1914" from Yves Buffetaut's book "The Battle of Flanders and the Battle of Artois 1914-1919".
- Initially, the film "Merry Christmas" was given an "R" rating (under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian), but thanks to critic Roger Ebert, the American Film Association reconsidered its decision and gave the film a "PG-13" rating (under 13 requires parental guidance).
- Towards the end of the film, General Odber says, "I have received orders to arrest the cat for treason." Such a case actually occurred when a cat with a new collar appeared near German positions, under which was a note in French that read, "What regiment are you from?" The commander of the German forces in that sector of the front decided to follow the spirit of wartime law and ordered the cat to be shot for espionage.
- Lieutenant Odber, played by Guillaume Canet, praised Horstmeier, played by Daniel Brühl, for his knowledge of French, to which he replied, "There's nothing to brag about. Your wife isn't German." At the time of filming, Canet was married to German actress Diane Kruger, who also starred in the film.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
