Joyeux Noël

Directed by Christian Carion

France, Germany, United Kingdom, Belgium & Romania (2005)

Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, Joyeux Noël was nominated for rewards at several major film industry competitions, such as the Academy Awards & Golden Globes of the United States, the British BAFTA Awards, and the French César Awards. The film is a European co-production based upon the true story of the Christmas truce that took place during World War I. 

From 1914 to 1918, the Great War was raging on in Europe, which saw many casualties and a change in how war was fought. In the early 1900s, nations were eager to go to war with their new technologies and assumed that battles would be battles between machinery.  Being the first modern war to use technologies such as army tanks, trenches, and mustard gas, over 16 million people, both soldiers and civilians, lost their lives. As a result, many soldiers returned home with scaring experiences to a public who didn't fully understand how the way war was fought changed. 

Lewis, Brühl, and Boon
in their roles as Scottish,
German, and French leaders

On the Western front during December 1914, the three forces who were fighting against each other, France, Germany, & Great Britain, agreed upon a ceasefire to celebrate Christmas Eve. This ceasefire brought together the officers and soldiers of opposing armies and allowed them to celebrate with football games, singing of Christmas carols, and to exchange stories and food items from their homelands. The story of the Christmas truce illustrates the very human side of war and how these competing nations could put aside their differences for celebration. Joyeux Noël tells this story with the talents of Diane Kruger, Guillame Canet, Benno Fürmann, Dany Boon, Gary Lewis, and Daniel Brühl, who can all be seen in many other great films.