Joyeux Noel (Widescreen) by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Actors

• Diane Kruger
• Benno Fürmann
• Guillaume Canet
• Natalie Dessay
• Rolando Villazón

Format

• AC-3
• Color
• Dolby
• Dubbed
• Subtitled

Editorial Review

Joyeux Noel captures a rare moment of grace from one of the worst wars in the history of mankind, World War I. On Christmas Eve, 1914, as German, French, and Scottish regiments face each other from their respective trenches, a musical call-and-response turns into an impromptu cease-fire, trading chocolates and champagne, playing soccer, and comparing pictures of their wives. But when Christmas ends, the war returns…Joyeux Noel has been justly accused of sentimentality, but if any subject warrants such an earnest and hopeful treatment, it's the horrors of trench warfare. The largely unknown cast–the more familiar faces include Diane Kruger (Troy), Daniel Bruhl (Good Bye Lenin!), Benno Furmann (The Princess and the Warrior), and Gary Lewis (Billy Elliot)–deliver low-key but effective performances as the movie dwells on the everyday elements of life in the face of war. Based on a true incident (though considerably fictionalized). —Bret Fetzer

Stills from Joyeux Noel (click for larger image)