Powerful

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It's Christmas 1914 with the horrors of trench warfare on the Western Front. Three nationalities have an unauthorized truce. Palmer (Gary Lewis) is the priest from a small Scottish parish. Nikolaus Sprink (Benno Fürmann) is a German opera singer and Anna Sörensen (Diane Kruger) is his singing partner. French lieutenant Audebert (Guillaume Canet) is being reassigned further back in artillery. He's worried about his pregnant wife caught behind German lines.There is a little bit of action but mostly it's sentimental anti-war feelings. It over-does it a little when everybody moves from one side to the other to avoid the artillery barrage from both sides. They could easily just communicate and hide in their bunkers. The horrors of trench warfare isn't as visceral as the best war movies. It's very sincere but maybe a little too sentimental.

A recreation of the infamous WW1 event, 'Noel' deals with the extraordinary circumstance when, during the first year of The Great War, French, German and Scots laid down arms and celebrated Christmas Eve and Day together, sharing gifts, singing hymns and playing football. Stereotypes and barriers are broken down, and the soldiers begin to see each other as more than just 'the enemy'.A unique war film, 'Joyeux Noel' is more about the human capacity for forgiveness and understanding even in the face of such paramount horror and radical nationalism. It accomplishes via having several aces up its sleeve. First, it boasts a fine range of European talent, including the likes of a young Daniel Bruhl, Diane Kruger, Guillame Canet, Benno Furmann, Gary Lewis and especially, Danny Boon. Sort of the French Sandler/Williams, Boon is a comic actor who proves his dramatic chops here, playing the French Lieutenant's aide/barber. He's sort of a lovable manchild who brings a sort of rural heartiness to the trenches, like having his coffee at 10 every morning to remind him of his mother. In any other film, this could've been obnoxious, but Boon walks the line aptly and the film's careful spreading of humour make it quite charming.On top of this, we also have a moving but sparse choral-centric score, fitting the yuletide setting, and rather convincing recreations of the tight, filthy trench life and the desolation of No Man's Land. It may not be overly gritty or gory, but it still conveys the impression of a place you don't want to be in. As far as negatives go, I have not much to say really. Maybe the superior officers are a little one note 'this is most unorthodox!', but the story's not focused on them, so it's not a big issue. Honestly, what's good here is really good, and makes for one of the most different and best Xmas films out there.

Merry Christmas is a French War movie written and directed by Christian Carion in 2005. It deal with the Christmas Truce of the First World War in December 1914 between the French, Scottish and German soldiers. Christian Carion directed other movies such as Monsieur Député in 1999,and L'Affaire Fareweel in 2009.This movie was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards. It was screened out of competition at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.The actors contributed to the success of the movie : Benno Fürmann, Guillaume Canet, Diane Kruger, Gary Lewis, Alex Ferns, Danny Boon.But if someone thinks it's thanks to them, I find the characters flat, There is a lack of complexity in them even if throughout the story the History is showing. Despite that I was overwhelmed by this movie.The main plot of the movie : « One Chirstmas Day of the officers have coffee together and decide to « bury their dead on the day Christ was born ». Later, the soldiers play a football match. » The scene when soldiers are able to fraternize shows the fact that soldiers are not just « machine to kill ». This scene permits to highlight the humanity of soldiers because most of the time in war movies we forget the fact that they have a heart. During this Truce, the soldiers are on an equal footing whatever their nationality, they all have, during the Christmas, memories about their family, and faith.Christian Carion encountered difficulties to find a ground of some hectares because of the French Army. He found a French military training ground but the commandant of the base said 'no' ! Moreover he participate in the hostility of militarist because he refused to show archives of the army which prove the existence of brotherhood during the war. But he finally found a ground in Romania. Despite that, Christian Carion is « armed » as far as the scenario is colored, fed by small real facts (the cat which passed from one camp to the other...) The acting is perfectly managed with sometimes elegance...Merry Christmas sound like a « anti-war » movie if I could say so, even if it's a war film because the film celebrate Man capacity for empathy and forgiveness.AdelineI found spectacular the fact that was able to mix fraternization and humanity with the atrocity because we never lose the horror of war even if it's Christmas Truce. Despite the war, the language, despite cultures, men under their statute of soldiers will meet and appraise during some hours because the military authorities will stop.It's an irreproachable realism, this movie gives us a parenthesis of love and peace which raises several questions to the spectator, like the legitimacy of war. Merry Christmas, a lesson of humanity.

'Joyeux Noel' is really a wonderful film. It is true in its historiography of the Christmas Truce of 1914 that happened in Ypres, Belgium; an event that revealed that friendship, music, and humanity really do mute the belligerent sentiments of war.I had little idea of the plot before I saw 'Joyeux Noel.' I thought it might have been yet another World War I epic. For the most part I was right; it is a marvelous WWI epic, but it is dissimilar to all the others. The military ideal of patriotism that is so often saluted in war epics, is belittled in front of the incredible humanity and comradeship that the soldiers showed. I was simply enthralled at what I was seeing: soldiers from three different trenches were sharing champagne, playing soccer, and attending the same Christmas Mass. They were collectively committing high treason, while celebrating a friendship that had no geopolitical borders.Christian Carion's "Joyeux Noel" has enlightened audiences across the globe. This is a marvelous ode to the brave soldiers of WWI who chose to toast together and break bread in a Christmas truce, rather than obey the warmongering orders of high command. It makes us understand the universality of our human experiences, despite wartime propaganda and nationalist sentiments.The acting was superb by the German, French and Scottish actors, and the music was beautifully executed in the spirit of the times. Congratulations to those involved in making this inspiring film a reality. This visually and sonically captivating picture will make you think, make you laugh, and will make you cry.If you have yet to see "Joyeux Noel," definitely consider renting this astounding epic. Seeing it will make you a better person.Enjoy!