Joyeux Noel (2005) - full transcript

"Child, upon these maps do heed
this black stain to be effaced"

"Omitting it, you would proceed
yet better it in red to trace"

"Later, whatever may come to pass
promise there to go you must"

"To fetch the children of Alsace
reaching out their arms to us"

"May in our fondest France
hope's green saplings branch"

"And in you, dear child, flower"

"Grow, grow, France awaits its hour"

"We have one and only enemy"

"Who digs the grave of Germany"

"Its heart replete
with hatred, gall and envy"

"We have one and only enemy"



"The villain raises its murderous hand"

"Its name, you know, is England"

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Another two minutes, Mr. Sprink.

I have been ordered to read out
this announcement...

By His Majesty,
our beloved Kaiser Wilhelm.

"These are grave times for Germany."

"Our country is under siege."

"The sword is being forced
into our hand."

"I hope..."

"That with the help of god
we will wield the sword in a manner..."

"That we can put it back
into the scabbard with honour."

Two more minutes, Lieutenant!

We're moving out!



100 metres to the German trenches.

Our machine-gunners have been firing
at them for the past hour...

So we should be all right.

We take their frontline.
Then the farm just behind!

The 134th will relieve us tonight...

And we can rest up in the rear.

We'll have backup
from the Scots on our left.

You'll recognise their black caps.
Don't worry about them.

Pay close attention
to what I tell you to do.

I'm like you.

I too want to go home.

So do what you must,
and we'll all be home for Christmas.

Right. Come what will.

Fix bayonets!

Load rifles!

Forward!

Come on! Go ahead!

Cease fire!

- That was a stretcher-bearer.
- What?

- You shot a stretcher-bearer.
- How do you know?

Why did you fire first?

A Scots marauder, sir.

- Think I got him.
- Good.

Stay vigilant.
At the slightest move, sound the alert.

Yes, sir.

Sprink, come with me.

Yes, sir!

Attention, all!

Deposit the enemy weapons
in the Friedrichsstrasse trench!

- Go make yourself useful.
- Yes, sir.

Have to rebuild it.

Relax, no one saw me.

Get hurt?

Christ! What happened?
You were barely 15 minutes in there.

- Reinforcements didn't even...
- Machine-gunners, in the sap.

Lost a third of my men in five minutes.

They say when you saw the Scots retreat
on your left, you gave up on the farm.

So, any word?

I tried the Red Cross, but no go.

No news from the enemy-occupied zone.

The Germans appear
to be treating civilians correctly.

Your wife is most likely at her parents'
with the baby.

During the shelling,
a faulty cannon exploded.

Killed the officer
and his five men outright.

I asked you be drafted in
to replace him.

Artillery, a fine corps.

- You'll move up fast.
- No.

Keep your gunner's career.
I stay here with my men.

Find another lieutenant.
There's no shortage.

I'm Major General here.
I'll do as I see fit.

You'll do as I say.

I'll let you spend Christmas
in your unit.

Then you go to Poitiers for training.
That's an order.

If you want your visit to remain secret,
you'd best leave.

My orderly's coming.

You rest up here for three days.
Then the frontline by the Delsaux farm.

The sector
should be quiet for Christmas.

Get some rest.

See you before you leave for Poitiers.

- Good night.
- Good night, sir.

Lieutenant,
found some blankets for tonight.

What's wrong, Lieutenant?

My wallet. I've lost my wallet.

- The wallet with the photo you showed me?
- Yes.

What a shame.

But you hardly need photos
to remember your wife's face.

I had a mishap, too. Look at that, sir.

2 centimetres higher and I was a goner.

And it still rings!

Unstoppable, just like me,
eh, Lieutenant?

It means placing one every five metres.

Every five metres?

How many is that in all?

About 100,000.

That means a total of 20 trains
we'll have to send to Brussels.

Incredible.

Christmas trees.

It'll take me longer to send these trees
to the front than our cannons.

Show Miss Sörensen in.

How is he?

Well.

His regiment came under surprise attack
four days ago...

But they drove back the enemy.

As regards your proposal...

I'm afraid I cannot accept it.

As a Dane, I feel the gravity
of the situation escapes you.

For five months now, two million
of our men have fought unrelentingly.

We have neither the time nor the urge...

To organise recitals.

It took me a while to realise...

I'd approached the wrong person.

So I contacted the Kronprinz...

Who'd be delighted to have a recital
at his headquarters on Christmas Eve.

I was told you were responsible...

Not just for cannons and convoys,
but also the soldiers.

So if you would kindly sign here...

Next to the Kronprinz,
before informing your men...

You'll only see him one night.
What's the point of that?

It'll be much more than one night.

Our minutes are longer than yours.

- Well?
- Nothing.

Just a rifle shot.

- It's dead calm.
- Good.

Be wary, they'll stop at nothing,
even on Christmas Eve.

Follow me.

- Know who had this brilliant idea?
- No.

For you, Lieutenant.

Sprink!

You'll be leaving us for one night.

To go where?

Home, in a way,
where you'd be better off.

Why do you dislike me, sir?

After your regiment was disbanded,
I had to take you.

But I prefer masons, bakers, farmers.

Artists like you are a dead loss.

Nothing but a millstone.

Now go. This officer's taking you.

Get a move on!
It's 10:00 and nothing's done!

Easy on there. It's not too short?

I told you, Lieutenant,
I'm the best barber in Lens.

Even the mayor used to come to my shop.

And Henri Hennebicque,
was he a customer?

Hennebicque. Doesn't ring a bell.

My father-in-law.

Deputy mayor. Lives at 21 Cypress Alley.

You never told me.

Cypress Alley, I know it well.

Been a few times
to have my bike fixed...

At Narcisse Denoyelle's, number 43.

Right. I can see it now,
a little blue gate.

I feel I can tell you now.

Sometimes, of an evening,
I head up along the embankment...

Towards the farm,
softly, softly, so not to get killed.

I sit down and I look.

I know the Delsaux farm well.

I'd cycle there for eggs and milk.

Just beyond the farm
is the road to Lens.

Straight to Lens.

On foot, I'd be home in an hour.

No bother.

One hour.

My mother would be waiting
at the door...

With a full pot of coffee...

On the stove, just like before.

What a nuisance, these damn lice.

There you go.

I think I'm done, Lieutenant.

Well?

Ponchel.

There's no mirror in front.

Christ, what an idiot.

But you're grand, sir,
tip-top for the party tonight.

- If you say so.
- I do.

- Welcome, Miss.
- My pleasure.

Please.

Miss Sörenson, most honored.

I will not tolerate mistakes!
Clean that up at once!

Excuse me.
Do you know where Nikolaus Sprink is?

Know where Nikolaus Sprink is?

He arrived about an hour ago.

- Sprink? The tenor?
- Yes.

Miss, though we've owned this house
for 300 years...

It is no longer our home
since September 23 last.

Ask elsewhere, if you would.

With any taste they'll have put him
in my room on the top floor.

Thank you.

You poor thing! Good taste indeed!

Prussians with taste?
You shouldn't even answer those people.

No! I have lice.

We'll sing together again,
just like before.

I am not like before, Anna.

Sing for me. Sing for us.

Your Highness.

I'm glad to see the war has spared you.

That you volunteered as a private...

Was most impressive.

I did not volunteer.
I was called up like all the others.

I congratulate you
on your initiative, miss.

It takes a woman to remind us that
despite the war, it is Christmas.

Thanks to you and your voices...

Tonight shall feel just like Berlin...

Where I hope to return
as soon as possible.

Perhaps next spring...

If all goes as planned.

Next spring.

You smoke?

Everyone smokes in the trenches.
You kill time as you can.

It's five years today since we met.

Oslo.

Five years already?

To have to brush with death
to realise how time flies...

That's the terrible thing.

All these fat, sated men parading,
swilling champagne.

Anna, I must return to the front.

To sing for my comrades.

Tonight, above all.

For months I've dreamt of this,
and you want to go?

I don't want to leave you,
but I must go sing for them.

I'll return afterwards.

- I'll come, too.
- Out of the question.

It's too dangerous. You don't realise.

When you left, not a second passed...

Without my wondering
if you were still alive.

You are, and I am with you.
Nothing else matters.

I've too long awaited this night.

I'll not lose a single instant.

And without my pass from the Kaiser,
you'll not get far.

You have a pass from the Kaiser?

"The Major General
places his trust in you."

Hell, Lieutenant!

Couldn't they leave us be
on Christmas Eve?

- The dirty work always falls to the same.
- I volunteer to go.

I want no trouble, Gueusselin.

Approach their lines, case the
machine guns and come back. Understood?

With this moonlight,
can I return fire if spotted?

Stealth and speed,
if you want a hot meal.

They seem to be having fun.

Wouldn't you like to as well?

This is Anna Sörensen.

- Good evening.
- Good evening.

- Good evening.
- What's all this?

Are you mad, bringing this lady here?

Lieutenant...

I convinced the Kronprinz
that a little music would do no harm.

Very well.

Fire away.

Lieutenant!

Come quickly. Something odd is afoot.

I don't like this, Lieutenant.

Could be a diversion
for some dirty trick.

Sprink!

Get down!

Good evening, Englishmen!

Very nice, but that's enough.

This is not the Berlin Opera.

You're right.

It's better than Berlin.

Well, I never. That beats the lot.

A summit meeting,
and we're not even invited.

Shut it, Ponchel!
What the hell's going on?

- What the devil are they up to?
- Maybe the Germans are fed up.

They want to surrender.

I doubt it.

Ponchel, give me a bottle of champagne
and my beaker.

Thank you.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

What idiot did...

Merry Christmas!

You first. Go ahead.

Felix. Where have you been? Felix.

No, his name is not Felix. It's Nestor.

- It's Felix.
- No, Nestor.

It's the cat from the Delsaux farm.
No, I know better than you.

- Felix.
- No, it's Nestor.

Take it, I don't want any more.

- It's Nestor.
- Felix.

See? It's Nestor. Nestor.

- See? It's Nestor.
- Felix.

Nestor's heading for the French side.

My wife.

There's a small hotel, on Rue Vavin.

Spent a week there with my wife
two years ago.

For our honeymoon.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

- Hold on, that's Gueusselin's bottle.
- Who cares? He's turned in.

I doubt it.

Thank you very much, sirs.

It's good.

How many months pregnant was she there?

Five months.

That was in Lens, at her parents',
last July.

Then there were complications.
She was confined to bed.

I asked to stay by her side,
but it wasn't allowed.

Called to war, I had to leave her there.

But don't you write?

How is she?

I've had no letters since September.

The front is impassable.

I don't even know
if it's a boy or a girl.

Hey, Scotsman!
Don't go for the piety either?

The French gave me some champagne.
Like some?

Come.

Sing for us.

Sing for them.

Please. Make way.

Thank you. Thank you.

You were wonderful.

I'm Jewish.

But I'll never forget tonight.

Thank you.

So, what about the young lady?

Yes, I wanted to ask you.

Could she spend the night
in your shelter?

I meant, when is she leaving?

Tomorrow morning.

Fine.

Alas, you cannot sleep in my shelter.

I have company.

A big rat, for three days now,
but I'll get him in the end.

We'll find a solution.

- Good night, Lieutenant.
- Good night.

Don't worry, miss.

- I'll find you a safe place.
- Thanks, Jörg.

That'll do with the flares!

Merry Christmas.

Oskar. Oskar.

Oskar! Oskar!

Listen. Someone's digging out there.

Mines.
Those damn Scots are digging a mine sap.

They'll fill it with explosives
and blow us sky-high.

- No, they're not digging any sap.
- They are, I tell you.

- You just got too pally with them last night.
- Yeah?

- Look who's talking.
- Look!

Get back down! Down!

Bring your coffee!

Thanks.

Thanks, Ponchel. You can leave us now.

In a few days, their families...

Their wives,
will receive the terrible news.

What we'd rather not think about.

For them,
nothing will ever be the same again.

You, too.

One day they'll cover you
and dump you in a hole.

Let us go, while there's still time.

I have my pass. Holland is not far.

- It is at peace. We'd have a future.
- Impossible. That'd be to desert.

It's not desertion.
It's staying together.

I'm a soldier, like all the others.

I have duties, like everyone here.

Holland is quite a way.
We'd get caught, even with your pass.

There's another solution.

The French border is 100 metres away.
We only have to cross it.

I've made tea. Perhaps you'd like some.

Come.

Come.

By the way, the others asked me
to give you these letters.

We don't trust the military post.

And as you're going back to Berlin,
we thought...

Sure.

Come on, Morallec!

Go for it!

Looks like trouble for the Jerries.

I heard last night about your wife.

If you like,
I can get a letter through to her.

Why would you do that?
If you got caught...

One letter won't stop us
winning the war.

And anyhow, when we'll have taken Paris
and it's over...

You can invite us for a drink
in Rue Vavin.

You don't have to invade Paris
to drop round for a drink.

How many cartridges
have you to fire per day?

How many?

Eight.

- Eight?
- Eight.

Ah, eight. Eight.

And you?

Seven?

Seven and eight.

Us, five. Doesn't surprise me.

Still here? Weren't they sending a car?

We waited, but no one came for her.

I guess the party dragged on at HQ.
They're probably still sleeping.

HQ called me five minutes ago.

They told me you'd vanished.

They thought you'd deserted, Sprink.

I told them
you were here with Miss Sörensen.

That you came to sing for your comrades.

That really impressed them.

I was asked to keep an eye on you
till they arrive.

Miss Sörensen will return to Berlin...

And you will be put under arrest.

Two weeks.
For disobedience on the front.

Disobedience?

I'm not sure I understand.

So, what's the plan for tomorrow?

A little football match...

And an aperitif
with those across the way?

Or will you shoot them like rabbits,
having shared champagne?

Well, Lieutenant?

All that is now meaningless.

To die tomorrow
is even more absurd than yesterday.

That'll do, Sprink!

Any coffee left?

Felix.

Damn that cat!

Here, Nestor.

What're you doing here?
We said, each to their own camp.

I know, but...

Our artillery
will shell you in 10 minutes.

So I suggest you come shelter
in my trench.

Not a word, Sprink.

Bull's-eye.

Sorry.

Damn! Have to rebuild it all over.

By the way, that letter for my wife.

You told me that...

This time we leave it at that.

It was nice knowing you.

Perhaps in other circumstances
we could have...

Perhaps.

Yet maybe a drink in Rue Vavin,
as a tourist!

Yes.

That would be "smashing".
Is that how you say?

Yes.

Your French beats my German.

No merit in that.
Your wife is not German.

Well...

- Good luck.
- You, too.

- Good-bye.
- Good luck.

Lieutenant.

I managed earlier
to case their machine guns.

All there.

What are you doing here?
They have all gone.

We want you to take us prisoner.

Prisoner? That's not possible!

How do I explain your presence
to my superiors?

I can't do that! Go back
to your trenches, playtime's over.

Sir.

If we return to the German side,
they'll separate us.

Put us in whatever jail you like,
but let us be together.

I beg of you.

- Couturier.
- Lieutenant?

Take these two to the rear,
to the village.

They're prisoners. Put them
in the schoolroom. I'll bunk elsewhere.

And stay with them.
We're going back tomorrow.

Lieutenant.

Can you give these to the Red Cross?
It's important.

Morralec, where's Ponchel?
Been calling him for the past hour.

Said he was going for nosh, sir.

Nosh?

Dearest, I cling to your memory...

Like a climber to his rope,
so as not to fall.

The poor guy died between our lines.

Let President Poincaré come
take Lorraine himself, for all I care.

Try as we did, before we knew it,
they'd scored six.

They admitted later that most of them play
together in a Munich club called Bayem.

Never will I forget
her voice in the night.

I stayed in my trench, in peace.

Drink with those bastards?
I'd rather die.

Better trenches, I must admit.

The Scots photographer promised us
pictures at New Year's.

Be a chance to get back together.

A Bavarian gave me his address,
to visit when it's over.

We and the British decided
to accept the Krauts' invitation.

We'll go spend New Year's Eve with them.

We'll sing that song
the Scots taught us.

And above all, drink to the health
of all those bastards...

Who, sitting pretty,
sent us here to slug it out.

No, stay here!
What're you doing? Come back!

Be silly to die disguised
as a German, eh?

What the devil were you doing?

I had a German help me.

I saw my mother.

We drank a coffee, just like before.

You have a son.

His name is Henri.

- How did you let yourself...
- If you came to preach, leave now!

Don't you realise the gravity of this?

It's high treason! Punishable by death.

Only, we can't execute 200 men.
That's all that saves you.

Not counting all the other cases
of fraternisation reported since.

If public opinion hears of this...

- Have no fear, no one here will tell.
- I hope not!

Who'd want to?

Want to?

The men involved feel no shame.

If they won't tell, it's because
no one would believe or understand.

I don't understand you.

Carousing with the enemy
while the country's partly occupied!

The country? What does it know
of what we suffer here?

Of what we do without complaint?

Let me tell you,
I felt closer to the Germans...

Than to those who cry, "Kill the Krauts!"
before their stuffed turkey!

You're talking nonsense.

No, you're just not living
the same war as me.

Or as those on the other side.

You and your men will
rejoin the Verdun sector.

You're right about one thing.
I don't understand this war.

My corps was the cavalry.

You should have made a career of it,
like I said.

Today, I'm asked to fight a war
where the shovel outweighs the rifle.

In which people swap addresses
with the enemy to meet when it's all over.

Plus the cat we found with a note
from the Germans, "Good luck, comrades!"

I was ordered to arrest the cat
for high treason...

Until further notice.

You're a grandfather, Dad.

His name is Henri.

What are you on about?

How do you know that?

You wouldn't understand.

Henri?

Not bad.

Henri Audebert.

Let's try and survive this war for him.

Chin up.

Be seated.

In two days' time,
you will be in East Prussia...

To take part in an offensive
against the Russian Army.

I hope you'll show pugnacity
in the face of the enemy.

This train will cross the fatherland...

But it won't be possible for you
to see your families.

Why? I think you can guess.

- Long live Kaiser Wilhelm!
- Long live the Kaiser!

They hand it out to just anybody.

This film is dedicated
to the soldiers...

Who fraternised on Christmas 1914
in several places on the front.

This film is inspired
by real historical events.

All resemblance to people living or dead
is purely coincidental...

And independent
of the will of the author.