Joyeux Noel (2005). On Christmas Eve 1914, shooting in WWI stopped by general agreement of the troops during a brief spontaneous cease-fire, with German troops on one side and French and Scottish troops on the other.
That it actually happened is a fact; how it may have taken place (questions: in a land of shooting and snipers, which man came out first? and how did he manage it without getting his head blown off?) is a good story, told in this multiple award-winning film written and directed by Christian Carion, and funded jointly by French, Scottish, Belgian, German and Rumanian agencies and filmed on location in several of those countries.
No, “peace did not break out,” nor was it being sought by any of the countries with forces in the trenches at that time; this was a spontaneous and brief time of cease fire of the soldiers themselves, with Christmas songs sung, and soldiers emerging from their trenches to greet and to give some of whatever they had in their packs to soldiers on the other side — just for Christmas eve.
While good fellowship prevails among the men on the ground for just a little while, celebrating Christmas eve, officialdom of all kinds decide, then and later, what to think and how to handle the situation, in accordance with national doctrines and purposes. The officers in charge in the various forces meet on the spot to nail down details of terms and duration, for the next few hours of what has already begun without them, and somehow find temporary amity. Higher-ups, hearing of it later, and notably not part of the fighting forces themselves, perceive it as detrimental to their national imperatives to wipe out the foe.
Watch this film, please. You will be moved, in the best ways a film can move you.
This film sits between two other superb films in French about WWI, The King of Hearts (Le roi de coeur) (1966) and The Grand Illusion (La Grande Illusion) (1937), both considered classics. If you haven’t seen these films, do so, and as soon as you can. All are easily available on DVD.
