Joyeux Noël (English: Merry Christmas) (2005) is a film about the World War I Christmas truce of December 1914, depicted through the eyes of French, Scottish and German soldiers. It was written and directed by Christian Carion.
The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards. The film was originally rated R. However, after film critic Roger Ebert criticized the rating the MPAA officially changed the rating to PG-13. The film was one of Ian Richardson's last appearances who died on February 9, 2007.
In 1914, World War I, the bloodiest war ever at that time in human history, was well under way. However on Christmas Eve, numerous sections of the Western Front called an informal, and unauthorized, truce where the various front-line soldiers of the conflict peacefully met each other in No Man's Land to share a precious pause in the carnage with a fleeting brotherhood. This film dramatizes one such section as the French, British and German sides partake in the unique event, even though they are aware that their superiors will not tolerate its occurrence. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
