I had been looking forward to seeing this film for a long time and when i finally managed to get a copy on DVD i couldn't wait to watch it only to be really disappointed. Joeux Noel doesn't show any of the true horrors of WW1,the trenches look far to clean there's no mud, rats,lethal barbed wire,hardly any carnage or dead mutilated bodies,not that i partically want to see that,but if this film is depicting WW1 then this is what you would expect to see because thats how it really was.The soldiers look far too bright and fresh and don't at all seem exhausted and fatigued or battle weary so it just doesn't convince that they have been fighting in a horrific war.For instance not one of them had shell shock when in reality many of them by that point would have had. Because the film plays down the true horrors of war, when the actual scenes of the Christmas Truce happen it just doesn't seem to mean much,and its all very sudden there's no big build up and not much apprehension,as in reality the soldiers at first believed it was a trick,so they didn't all rush out to shake hands with the Germans as this film suggests. Then what really ruins it for me is the female opera singer who is living in the German trenches who then comes out to sing{mime}to all the soldiers she is all elegantly dressed and of all
things she is wearing a bright red cape,how ridiculous is that.I know its good to stretch your imagination a bit but this is just going to far,there is no way she would have been allowed in the German trenches or any one else's for that matter,and this for me is where the story loses all credibility it just becomes more fiction which is a shame because there really is a good story to be told here.I've been interested in the Christmas Truce for years and have watched many documentaries about it and always thought it would make a great film,however this one just doesn't do it. The Truce scene in Oh What A Lovely War handles the subject much better even if it is for only ten minutes, it captures the atmosphere perfectly and is memorable,this one sadly isn't.
things she is wearing a bright red cape,how ridiculous is that.I know its good to stretch your imagination a bit but this is just going to far,there is no way she would have been allowed in the German trenches or any one else's for that matter,and this for me is where the story loses all credibility it just becomes more fiction which is a shame because there really is a good story to be told here.I've been interested in the Christmas Truce for years and have watched many documentaries about it and always thought it would make a great film,however this one just doesn't do it. The Truce scene in Oh What A Lovely War handles the subject much better even if it is for only ten minutes, it captures the atmosphere perfectly and is memorable,this one sadly isn't.