Movie Review

Written and directed by Christian Carion, starring: Alex Ferns (Officer Gordon), Daniel Bruhl (Officer Horstmeyer), Guillaum Canet (Lieut. Audebert), Benno Furmann (Nikolaus Sprink), Diana Kruger (Anna Sorenson), Garry Lewis (Father Palmer), Ian Richardson (The Bishop), 118 minutes, 2005.

War movies are a growth industry at the moment but this one will likely be a Christmas classic for years to come. It is based on the historical phenomenon of a truce that slowly broke out on the 500 mile line of The Western Front during the first Christmas of World War 1 in 1914. Director Carion grew up in the north of France in the area of this particular incident and was much influenced by the book Battles of Flanders and Artois 1914-1918 by Yves Buffetaut. Despite the sentimentality and pathos wrung from the event it is a compelling story that will make your glasses mist up.

Three regiments faced one another across a narrow stretch of no man's land in Northern France; German, French and Scots. All the young men had gone eagerly off to war "as if to a soccer match". Now they were mired down in the filth and terror of trench warfare. Nikolas Sprink is a famous German opera singer who learns of the outbreak of war during a concert performance with his lover Anna. While he comes from high society he serves as a lowly foot soldier. Anna contrives to have him removed from The Front to sing a concert for the Crown Prince in a country estate on Christmas Eve. He is such a patriot that following the concert he insists on returning to his fellow soldiers to be with them even though Anna has permission for him to stay back. In the end she goes with him, an incongruous but fetching presence in the trenches. The German hierarchy has arranged for Christmas trees complete with lights, to be shipped to the soldiers in the trenches. As Christmas Eve wears on the Scots begin to sing accompanied by bag pipes. Nikolaus sings Silent Night and the pipers change their tune to accompany him. Nikolaus grabs a Christmas tree and walks out into no-mans-land. (In the original incident a German soldier apparently walked out and shouted "We not shoot. You not shoot"). There follows a tentative and mistrustful truce in which the troops share wine, scotch, chocolate, pictures of wives and lovers, a worship service conducted by Father Palmer and then a pick up soccer game. In the morning light the officers arrange for the troops to collect and bury their own dead. Officer Horstmeyer warns the French and Scots that a bombardment will shortly ensue and they all take refuge in the German bunkers. On the return barrage they all troop over to the French/ Scots bunkers.

The French and German officers speak each other's languages as well as English. The Scots don't speak either. (They barely speak English!) In a touching conversation Audelbert says to Horstmeyer "Your French is much better than my German." To which Horstmeyer replies "You do not have the benefit of a German wife". It is hard to maintain the caricatures of "the enemy" when you are talking about family. Audebert later writes to his wife that he felt more in common with the men who were his 'enemy' than he did with his superior officers, many of whom were upper class incompetents.

While this is something of an anti war tract it also raises for Christians a basic issue of theology. What do we believe about the 'human condition', the 'human predicament'? Do we believe that we are 'totally depraved', that "the great weight of sin" in Anselm's famous phrase, so overwhelms us that only God's sacrifice of His Son could lift it? The evidence of stupidly repeated wars would seem to support that view. On the other hand, a more traditional Anglican view (some would say that our besetting heresy was Pelagianism) holds out for the more hopeful, graceful view symbolized by enemies playing soccer together on the birthday of the Son of God; the Son of God who came not so much to rescue us or sacrifice/ substitute Himself as to demonstrate God's great love for humankind and invite us into His example. These are tart lessons for us in a time when we are at war and examples are easily lined up on either side of the moral divide.