The story of a silent night on the front lines

“Joyeux Noel” (“Merry Christmas”) recounts the wondrous events of Christmas Eve, 1914, when soldiers in the trenches of World War I declared a brief truce.

Christian Carion wrote and directed this Oscarnominated movie, which is based on true events so unlikely they seem fictional.

Anna Sorenson (Diane Kruger) is a famous soprano of Danish origin, and her lover is a renowned German tenor named Nikolaus Sprink (Benno Furmann) who is now fighting on the Western front. Anna pulls some strings and is given a pass to entertain some of the officers on Christmas Eve, and Sprink is allowed to join her. Improbably, she follows Sprink when he goes back to the trenches so she can sing for his men.

There are some lovely, surreal images and sounds in this movie: Little Christmas trees aglow with candles line the German trenches; Scottish soldiers sing about home, accompanied by the mournful sound of bagpipes; a French soldier has an alarm clock that always rings at 10 a.m., the time he always had coffee with his mother; a friendly tabby cat trots between the French and German camps so often it is later convicted of treason.

We’re reminded that, whatever their nationality, these are just ordinary men with mothers, wives and children.

As the soldiers walk out of their trenches and exchange photos, wine and chocolates with their “enemies,” you think about how difficult it will be to return to the task of trying to kill each other.

“Joyeux Noel” is a movie to reaffirm your belief in the good in people. The chilling ending, however, reminds you how easily that belief can be twisted to fit another’s agenda.