Not Your Typical Holiday Classic
It’s 1914 and the German army is facing off on the western front against the Scottish and French armies. Entrenched, the battle wages on between the three countries until Christmas Eve when they call a truce for the evening which carries over to Christmas Day and in some ways beyond.
Joyeux Nöel is based on true accounts of the opposing armies in 1914 during World War I coming together, in peace to celebrate Christmas. For the first thirty minutes or so I was wondering what had I gotten myself into by watching this movie. Let’s just say I was not captivated. Well, that took a turn and the story, even though it was a tad sluggish, started to become intriguing. Mind you this is a movie you have to pay attention to since about half of it is subtitles. I was touched by the power of Christmas Eve that compelled these groups of men to lay down their weapons and see each other as individuals not just the countries they fought for. Even though their decisions that holiday weren’t popular, those at the front lines understood what they had experienced.
Motherly Advice: This is probably a war movie with the least amount of fighting in it that I’ve ever seen. There was very little violence since the story revolved around the relationships of the soldiers more than combat. Short scenes of gunfire and some dead bodies on the ground will be shown but honestly it is very tame in that department. Language and sexual content were not an issue either with my filters set to most filtering. Content okay for ages 12 and up.
Hannah - Clearplay Christmas movie enthusiast!
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