Fridae

The best new film of the week is NOT the big-budget The Chronicles
of Narnia - but Merry Christmas, a smaller-budget
but far more meaningful picture that recently received a Golden
Globe nomination for Best Foreign Picture.

Mainstream movie-goers may not recognize the cast, but it actually
comprises some of the brightest young stars of Europe — Guillaume
Canet (the French studmuffin from The Beach), Daniel Bruhl
(the German cutie from Goodbye, Lenin!), Diane Kruger (the
vixen who played Helen in Troy) and Benno Furmann (another
top-rated German hottie).

Based on a true World War I incident, the film tells the story
of a group of German and French soldiers who are battling each another
at the frontlines. As Christmas approaches, a German soldier begins
to sing Silent Night in the trenches. Some distance away
from him, a group of Scottish bagpipers — who are with his
French enemies — decide to strike up their instruments and
accompany his singing.

Eventually, the two sides decide to put aside their weapons and
celebrate Christmas together. Sharing wine, pictures of wives and
a game of soccer, the soldiers embody the spirit of peace and tolerance
that represents Christmas.

Sentimental as the plot may seem, Merry Christmas is actually
a well-made and very watchable film. Its anti-war message is certainly
timely, and it's no surprise that the film became a huge box-office
hit in Germany and France. Let's hope that Merry Christmas
would do well in Asia too.