On a recent visit to the Reading Terminal Market I heard something unusual: an unfamiliar Christmas song.
While I enjoy the traditional Christmas songs and carols well enough, I do get tired of hearing the same ones over and over, so hearing a fresh one was, uh, refreshing.
In the same spirit I'd like to recommend a Christmas-themed movie that's a bit off the beaten track. I mean, how many times can you re-watch It's a Wonderful Life or White Christmas?
Joyeux Noel is a fictional story based upon a true series of incidents.
On Christmas Eve, 1914, during the "Great War", there were incidents of French, German, and British soldiers informally declaring a temporary "truce" and getting together along the trenches to exchange gifts (well, cigarettes) and sing carols. The informal "truce" actually extended a bit longer, as the soldiers were now reluctant to fight the enemy, who they now realized were not all that much different from themselves.
The military brass were not amused.
Joyeux Noel (or Merry Christmas) takes the various documented incidents and with great understatement weaves them into a mesmerizing film. Highly recommended.
