Overlooked Specials 8th Day of Christmas

8^th Day of Christmas:

Joyeux Noel

Christmas 1914. British, German, and French soldiers were steeped in the trenches at violent war with each other. But for one night across the Western front soldiers from each side laid down their arms, and met each other in No Man’s Land in peace. All had family they were missing, and shared the fear they would die going over the very trenches they’d come from. They engaged, played games, even held Mass. It’s one of the most amazing, uplifting stories in the history of warfare, and it’s what’s being told in Joyeux Noel. A multi-lingual film with great performances from Benno Fürmann, Guillaume Canet, Daniel Brühl, Gary Lewis, Alex Ferns, and Diane Krueger, it wonderfully celebrates the love, compassion and goodwill of humanity. It also doesn’t shy away from the repercussions of this ceasefire, how the soldiers responded in the subsequent days, how chastised they were by their superiors. But it’s worth it, because it all shows how even in the worst of circumstances, Christmas is powerful enough to bring people together! How wonderful a feeling that is!

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