"Joyeux Noël": War takes a holiday for a few hours
A strangely pretty film about war, "Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas)" tells the fact-based story of what happened on Christmas Eve 1914 on the Western Front. Soldiers in the French, British (actually Scottish) and German trenches emerged from their hiding places and fraternized, sharing family photographs and singing Christmas songs. A few hours later, the fighting resumed.
It's a fascinating story, and understandable that French filmmaker Christian Carion ("The Girl from Paris") would be drawn to it. But the film he's made from it is strangely lifeless. "Joyeux Noël" is full of quirky details reportedly based in fact: the lit-up Christmas trees displayed on the German front (approved by Kaiser Wilhelm II), the cat adopted by both the French and German regiments (the French called the kitty "Nestor," the Germans "Felix"). And we're introduced to a generous handful of characters on all sides of the conflict.
"Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas)," with Diane Kruger, Benno Fürmann, Guillaume Canet, Gary Lewis, Dany Boon, Daniel Brühl, Lucas Belvaux, Alex Ferns, Bernard Le Coq, Steven Robertson. Written and directed by Christian Carion. 115 minutes. In French and German with English subtitles. Rated PG-13 for some war violence and a brief scene of sexuality/nudity. Harvard Exit.
None of this, however, adds up to much. Top-billed Diane Kruger ("Troy") looks lovely as a German soprano visiting the front (her singing voice is dubbed by Natalie Dessay), but she seems only there for the purposes of inserting a woman into the story.
Many of the characters are one-dimensional, and the dialogue is often heavy-handed. "With God's help, you must kill every German, young and old. May the Lord be with you," says a British priest. The ironic point is well taken but graceless.
One wonders why "Joyeux Noël" wasn't released at Christmastime when it might resonate a bit more strongly. (One also wonders why this tepid film made it to the final five foreign-language films nominated for an Academy Award this year.) Ultimately it fades away quickly from memory; a sad fate for a good story.
Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com