Line #90 Film/JoyeuxNoel


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/affiche-joyeux-noel_1953.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:''[[{{Tagline}} France 1914. A moment of humanity that made history.]]'']]
3	''Joyeux Noël'' (''Merry Christmas'') is a 2005 film depicting the RealLife [[HolidayCeasefire Christmas Truce of 1914]], in the first year of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.
4
5	The film begins with French, English and German school boys reciting xenophobic, jingoistic war poems:
6
7	->'''French boy:'''\
8	Child, upon these maps do heed this black stain to be effaced\
9	Omitting it, you would proceed yet better it in red to trace\
10	Later, whatever may come to pass promise there to go you must to fetch the children of Alsace\
11	Reaching out their arms to us\
12	May in our fondest France Hope's green saplings to branch\
13	And in you, dear child, flower\
14	Grow, grow, France awaits its hour.
15
16	->'''British boy:'''\
17	To rid the map of every trace\
18	Of Germany and of the Hun\
19	We must exterminate that race\
20	We must not leave a single one\
21	Heed not their children's cries\
22	Best slay all now, the women, too\
23	Or else someday again they'll rise\
24	Which, if they're dead, they cannot do.
25
26	->'''German boy:'''\
27	We have one and only enemy\
28	Who digs the grave of Germany\
29	Its heart replete with hatred, gall and envy\
30	We have one and only enemy\
31	The villain raises its murderous hand\
32	Its name, you know, is England.
33
34	Hearing such words from the mouths of children is of course horrible, explicitly showing us how the war developed on ethnic and national rivalries or hatred. The film proceeds, introducing us to its British, French and German characters who join up as the war breaks out. William and Jonathan, two Scottish brothers, along with their priest, Father Palmer, who joins as a chaplain, French Lieutenant Audebert (Creator/GuillaumeCanet) and German tenor Nikolaus Sprink who is engaged to a Danish soprano, Anna Sørensen (Creator/DianeKruger), reluctant to see him go. The characters are sent to the Western Front and face each other in the trenches.
35
36	On Christmas Eve, all sides decide to call a truce. Father Palmer presides over a service, Nikolaus and Anna sing carols, a football match is played, and soldiers from all sides share food and photos of their loved ones. However, when news of the fraternization across lines begins to leak out, the commanders worry that it could hamper the war effort, and take extreme measures to put a stop to the fragile peace.
37	----
38	!!Examples:
39
40	* BadassPreacher: While he was as a stretcher bearer and not a soldier, Father Palmer was undeniably Badass. He went into no man's land ''twice'' to save someone's life without a thought.
41	%%* BilingualDialogue: And occasionally Trilingual Dialogue.
42	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Every unit is reprimanded for their fraternization and are all split up to fight in new areas, but the Germans singing in the train at the end proves that they will never forget the humanity they showed their enemies.]]
43	%%* BlingOfWar: In particular, the French.
44	* BraveScot: Well, naturally. Special mention to Father Palmer, who doesn't quite fit the stereotype (being a non-combatant), but is nonetheless incredibly courageous in his efforts to save wounded soldiers and bringing a few days' peace to the battlefield.
45	* CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkey: Utterly averted. Of all factions, the (on-site) French soldiers are repeatedly shown to be the most reluctant to parley with the enemy (which is understandable, since they're waging a defensive war literally on their home turf).
46	%%* ChekhovsGun: The Clock, Lieutenant Audebert's sketchbook, and the song the Scots taught the Germans.
47	* ChristianityIsCatholic: Considering that Presbyterianism is the predominant Christian denomination in Scotland, it's a little odd that all the clergy who appear in the film are Roman Catholics. However, they ''are'' from the Highlands, an area which is mostly Catholic (the only region of Scotland where Catholics are the majority, actually).
48	%%* ChristmasMiracle
49	%%* ColdSniper: Jonathan.
50	* CuteKitten: The Germans and the French use a cat to send messages back and forth across the lines. [[spoiler:Which perhaps ends badly for all involved. General Audebert, the French lieutenant's father, tells his son at the end of the movie that the cat has been found guilty of espionage and sentenced to death, with a very serious face (this was based on a real incident, and the cat ''was'' shot).]]
51	* DecoyProtagonist: The film opens with Jonathan and William getting ready to go to war, with Father Palmer following reluctantly. It seems like the brothers will be our main characters, but the next time we see them, William is dying from a bullet wound and Jonathan fades into the background. If there is one protagonist in the EnsembleCast, it's Sprink, who is met next.
52	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Lots of the expected [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero political incorrectness]] all around. Most of it comes off as harmless banter, except of course for [[ForeShadowing the Kronprinz's antisemitism]]...
53	* DressingAsTheEnemy: Played with with [[spoiler:Private Ponchel, Lieutenant Audebert's orderly]], to whom a [[spoiler:German]] soldier lends his uniform so he can go through the lines and [[spoiler:see his mother. It ends badly]].
54	* EverythingsLouderWithBagpipes: Subverted. While several of the Scots soldiers play the bagpipes, it's quite haunting and lovely.
55	* AFatherToHisMen: All three lieutenants, to some extent, but Audebert is the most obvious example. He is determined to stay alongside his men even during the most suicidal offensives, he is always polite to his subordinates, and twice he cradles a fallen soldier.
56	* ForegoneConclusion: None of the characters are very likely to survive the carnage of the next four years, but in particular, Horstmayer is [[spoiler:Jewish]]. And in what appears to be a thinly-veiled allusion to his eventual fate should he survive the war, the last scene of the film shows the Kronprinz, [[spoiler:a future Nazi sympathiser, apparently making an anti-Semitic comment before sending Horstmayer and his men to Eastern Europe in cattle cars]].
57	* ForeShadowing: Jonathan's frequent [[TraitorShot Traitor Shots]] and SanitySlippage shots [[spoiler:make it all the more logical that he's the one who guns down the French Lieutenant's orderly.]]
58	* FriendlyEnemy / GoKartingWithBowser: The whole point of the film, which depicts fraternisations on the Western Front on 1914 Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
59	* FromTheMouthsOfBabes: {{Invoked\|trope}} in the opening scenes mentioned above, when French, British and German children are made to recite propaganda poems. On the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, the French poem sounds idealistic enough, but the British and German poems are extremely cynical.
60	* GermanicDepressives: Lieutenant Horstmayer is a strict and by-the-book figure, who sees the Kaiser's Christmas trees and Anna's presence as frivolous annoyances.
61	* GoodVersusGood: With two sides of people fighting for their countries in the name of justice and yet still show the kindness to their enemy so they can make peace for Christmas day. They then hate when they have to continue fighting their enemy even after they made friendships with others.
62	* GotVolunteered: Sprink mentions this specifically, but most of the other soldiers qualify as well.
63	* HeelRealization: The French Lieutenant when he tells his father "I feel closer to these 'monsters' than ''any'' man who says ''death to krauts!" over a stuffed turkey."
64	* HeroicBSOD: Jonathan undergoes one [[spoiler:when his brother dies.]]
65	* HolidayCeasefire: Based off the RealLife Christmas Truce of 1914.
66	* HumansAreGood: It portrays the humanity and kindness of all the soldiers on both sides who agreed to a truce.
67	* InsigniaRipOffRitual: {{Subverted\|trope}}. The Kronprinz just pokes his cane at it.
68	* IronicJuxtaposition: Dramatic example. After the mass, with Christmas spirits running high, Nikolaus and Anna settle down to sleep, embracing happily beneath a blanket in the trenches. Cut to Jonathan lying in the snow, holding his dead brother.
69	* KickTheDog:
70	** Or, crush the harmonica under the boot, by the Kronprinz as he dresses down the German soldiers who are being reassigned to the Eastern Front.
71	** The French general, who is also the French lieutenant's father, reveals that [[spoiler: the cat was caught with a message from the Germans and has been found guilty of treason.]]
72	* LostInTranslation: Inverted. In the original multilingual cut, the Crown Prince's comment to Horstmayer didn't actually hint at any antisemitism - he was only commenting on the fact that Iron Crosses were now awarded "to just about anyone now" (or, in Horstmayer's case, 'cowards').
73	%%* MagicMusic: Of a sort. Sprink's singing certainly casts a spell.
74	* ManInAKilt: Quite a few of the Royal Scots Fusiliers.
75	%%* ManlyTears: Many are shed, not only by the characters, but the audience as well.
76	* MistakenNationality:
77	** When Nikolaus goes "over the top" singing Adeste Fideles, he finishes by calling out, "Guten Abend Engländer!", to which an amused Scot replies, "Good evening, Germans. But we're not English, we're Scottish!"
78	** The châtelains assume that Danish Anna is German. She does initially address them in German, before switching to French ([[FakeNationality and the actress is German]]).
79	* PetTheDog: ''One'' of the figures of high command ([[spoiler:Audebert's father]]), ends up accepting that he and his son's view differ on the matter and, when learning that [[spoiler:he has a grandson now, says "Let's both try to survive the war for his sake."]]
80	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: One of these is given to each of the commanders of each army. Not a single one of 'em does anything but show how foolish and out of touch the high command is, and how messed up the war, and by extension ''all'' war, is.
81	* ReassignedToAntarctica: When word gets out, the French, German and Scottish soldiers are split up and sent elsewhere.
82	* RealityIsUnrealistic: Many said the sermon by the Scots Catholic bishop was "unreal" and "over the top." In fact it was taken from a real sermon, though by an Anglican bishop in Westminster Abbey. That actually makes it worse, as far more heard it. Here is the sermon, read it and weep:
83	-->'''Bishop:''' "Christ our Lord said, 'Think not that I come to bring peace on earth. I come not to bring peace, but a sword.' The Gospel according to St. Matthew. Well, my brethren, the sword of the Lord is in your hands. You are the very defenders of civilization itself. The forces of good against the forces of evil. For this war is indeed a crusade! A holy war to save the freedom of the world. In truth I tell you: the Germans do not act like us, neither do they think like us, for they are not, like us, children of God. Are those who shell cities populated only by civilians the children of God? Are those who advanced armed hiding behind women and children the children of God? With God's help, you must kill the Germans, good or bad, young or old. Kill every one of them so that it won't have to be done again. The Lord be with you."\
84	'''All:''' "And also with you."\
85	'''Bishop:''' "May God Almighty bless you. The Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost. Amen."\
86	'''All:''' "Amen."
87	* ScrewDestiny: More of a "screw the church," but Father Palmer definitely has this after he overhears the above sermon, leaving his cross on a stand as he walks out the door. This is also a good example of....
88	* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: When the Bishop dresses Father Palmer down, Palmer responds, quietly but firmly, that he considers the Christmas Eve Mass he led to be the most important one of his life, and he'll never regret it. He further challenges the Bishop, asking if the Bishop actually believes he is doing God's work. The Bishop deflects the question, questions Palmer's role in the Church, and orders Palmer to go back to Scotland. After hearing the Bishop's sermon, Palmer quits the Church, and it's strongly implied that he will [[IChooseToStay go right on working as a stretcher bearer and acting as an unofficial priest for the soldiers.]]
89	%%* ScrewTheWarWerePartying: A heartwarming example.
90	%%* SinisterMinister: The aforementioned bishop.
91	* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Anna is the only woman in the film. {{Justified\|trope}} by the setting.
92	* SwitchToEnglish: Whenever the three lieutenants speak with each other. {{Justified\|trope}} as English is the only language the three men have in common. When the French and German lieutenants meet, the language of choice is French, which the German speaks fluently, being married to a Frenchwoman and all.
93	%%* ThatsAnOrder: Several times.
94	%%* TruceZone:
95	%%* UnfriendlyFire:
96	* UniversalChaplain: The film has a Christian priest (who is serving as a stetcher-bearer in the British Army) holding a Christmas Eve religious service. After some hesitation, a Jewish German officer joins in.
97	* VomitDiscretionShot: Audebert gets one in his first scene, when he vomits out of fear before leading his men over the top towards a torrent of German machine-gun fire.
98	%%* WarIsHell

Context Film / JoyeuxNoel