Joyeux Noel

Seen in Paris, on November 12th, this was the first movie I’ve seen in French without any subtitles, or watching the English version prior. I lucked out a bit because some dialogue was in English (with French subtitles) and German (with French subtitles, and I’m okay at reading French).
Joyeux Noel takes place during World War I and is about the cease fire of the Scottist, German and French troops on Christmas Eve of 1914. We are involved in the lives of a romantic couple, a family, a leader and many other people and how they are affected by this war. It is based on a real story, although I’m sure some of the scenes were romanticized for the movie version.
As I mentioned in my post from last year I don’t really feel anything when it comes to Remembrance Day. This year, I wasn’t at the same ceremony that I was at last year and didn’t get to walk the battlefields and trenches, yet this movie really moved me. My heart actually hurt for awhile while I was watching some of the opening scenes. It wasn’t as gruesome as Saving Private Ryan, but it sort of had that same effect of me cringing and feeling rather uncomfortable.
I really enjoyed the use of music in this movie. Since two of the characters were opera singers the idea of music in the movie was inevitable, but even the use of incidental music, along with the particular singing music selections that were used were very fitting, and emotional.
I had a little bit of difficulty with the French speaking...it was a little bit fast for me, but with the other languages being used along with the subtitles, and of course the fact that visuals give away so much, I followed along with the basics of the movie.
The movie was of course very emotional and in the "drama" genre, but it did have some really nice funny moments.
I felt that the end of the movie cut short a smidge. I felt that some issues were unresolved and that I wasn’t sure (maybe because I don’t have a firm grasp of history, and how this story played out in real life) how the different groups in the movie continued on, and what happened to them soon after the movie ended. It seemed like because it was a movie, they wanted to leave off as a happy ending, but wars aren’t always happy, so I would have liked to know more about what happened after the movie ended. A quick blurb at the end of the movie as is often seen would have been sufficient I think.
I’m not sure if this movie is out in Canada or not, but I would recommend this movie for sure. I was lucky enough to watch it just one day after Remembrance Day, but it would be a great holiday movie as well.

-picture courtesy of www.joyeuxnoel-lefilm.com