Merry Christmas takes place during World War I. The movie is done in German, French, and English (Scottish accents), allowing each of the sides to be played by actors from the actual countries. We are given some background, focusing on the various reactions to being called to war. Eventually, the wife of a famous soldier (an opera singer) is allowed to visit him on Christmas Eve. They celebrate together with the others, creating enough noise to be heard by other sides and leading to the unofficial ceasefire. Interesting trivia pieces can be found at imdb.
Diane Krüger, who many students may not realise is a native German speaker, as she’s most active in Hollywood films, plays the main female role.
We learned about Benno Fürmann in another post (see Pünktchen und Anton). He’s the male lead in Joyeux Noel. Neither Krüger nor Fürmann use their own voices for the operatic portions.
Whether you’re looking for a war movie, a dramatic romance, or a feel-good Christmas movie with a deeper story, Joyeux Noël is a great film to choose.
Currently rated PG-13 in the US, it may be important to note that the re-rating of this movie from R to PG-13 is currently on appeal. There is one scene of sexuality that I do skip in the classroom that is the (probable) cause for the R rating push.