"Child upon these maps do heed This black stain to be effaced
"Omitting it you would proceed
"Yet better it in red to trace
"Later, whatever may come to pass
"Promise there to go you must To fetch the children of Alsace
"Reaching out their arms to us
"May in our fondest France
"Hope's green saplings branch
"And in you, dear child, flower
Grow, grow, France awaits its hour"
"We have a one and only enemy
"Who digs the grave of Germany
"Its heart replete with hatred, gall and envy
"We have a one and only enemy
"The villain raises its murderous hand
Its name you know, it is England"
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Two more minutes, Mr. Sprink.
I have been ordered
to read this message from our beloved Kaiser:
"This is a dark hour for Germany.
"Our land is besieged
"and we must brandish the sword.
"I hope
"that with God's help we shall use it well,
so we may re-sheathe it with dignity."
Two more minutes, Lieutenant!
We're going out!
100 meters to the German trenches.
We've been shelling their machine-gunners,
so we should be alright.
We take their front line,
then the farm just behind!
The 134th will relieve us tonight
and we can rest up in the rear.
We'll have back-up from the Scots on our left.
You'll recognize their black caps.
Don't worry about them,
pay close heed to what I tell you to do.
I'm like you.
I too want to go home.
So do what you must
and we'll all be home for Christmas.
Right.
Come what will.
Fix bayonets!
Load rifles!
Forward!
Up along the sap!
Get down!
- That was a stretcher-bearer. - What?
You shot a stretcher-bearer.
How do you know?
You fired first?
A Scots marauder, Sir!
- Think I got him. - Good.
Stay vigilant. At the slightest move, sound the alert.
Yes, Sir!
Sprink!
Come with me.
Yes, Sir!
Attention all!
Deposit the enemy weapons in the "Friedrichsstrasse" trench!
- Go help them. - Right.
Have to rebuild it.
Relax, no one saw me.
Get hurt?
Christ! What happened?
You were barely 15 minutes in there.
- Reinforcements didn't... - Machine gunners in the sap.
Lost a third of my men in 5 minutes.
When you saw the Scots retreat on your left
you gave up on the farm.
So, any word?
I tried the Red Cross, but no go.
No news from the enemy-occupied zone.
The Germans appear to be treating civilians correctly.
Your wife is most likely at her parents'
with the baby.
During the shelling, a faulty canon exploded.
Killed the officer and his 5 men outright.
I asked you be drafted in to replace him.
Artillery, a fine corps. You'll move up fast.
No.
Keep your gunner's career, I stay here with my men.
Find another Lieutenant, no shortage.
I'm Major General here, I'll do as I see fit.
You'll do as I say.
I'll let you spend Christmas in your unit.
Then you go to Poitiers for training.
That's an order.
If you want your visit to remain secret
you'd best leave, my orderly's coming.
You rest up here for 3 days.
Then, the front line by the Delsaux farm.
The sector should be quiet for Christmas.
Get some rest.
See you before you leave for Poitiers.
Goodnight.
Goodnight, Sir.
Lieutenant, found some blankets for tonight.
What's wrong, Lieutenant?
My wallet! I've lost my wallet.
The wallet with the photo you showed me?
Yes.
What a shame...
But you hardly need photos of your wife's face.
I'd a mishap too. Look at that, Sir.
Two centimeters higher and I was a goner!
And it still rings!
Unstoppable, just like me!
Eh, Lieutenant?
It means placing one every five meters.
Every five meters?
How many is that in all?
About 100,000.
Or 20 trains for Lille via Brussels.
Incredible!
Christmas trees!
It'll take me longer
to send these trees to the front than our canons.
Show Miss Sorensen in!
How is he?
Well.
His regiment came under surprise attack four days ago.
But they drove back the enemy.
As regards...
your proposal...
I'm afraid to say,
I cannot accept it.
As a Dane, I feel the gravity of the situation escapes you.
For five months now, two million of our men have fought unrelenting.
We have neither the time nor the urge to organize recitals.
It took me a while
to realize I'd approached the wrong person.
So I contacted the Kronprinz, who'd be delighted
to have a recital at his HQ on Christmas Eve.
I was told you were responsible
not just for canons and convoys, but also the soldiers.
So if you would kindly sign here,
next to the Kronprinz, before informing your men.
You'll only see him one night.
What's the point of that?
It'll be much more than one night.
Our minutes are longer than yours.
3 cases of whisky!
Well?
Nothing.
Just a rifle shot. It's dead calm.
Be wary, they'll stop at nothing, even on Christmas Eve.
Follow me.
- Know who had this brilliant idea? - No.
For you, Lieutenant.
Sprink!
You'll be leaving us
for one night.
To go where?
Home, in a way, where you'd be better off.
Why do you dislike me, Sir?
After your regiment was disbanded
I had to take you.
But I prefer masons, bakers, farmers.
Artists like you are a dead loss,
nothing but a millstone.
Now go. This officer's taking you.
Get a move on!
It's 10 o'clock and nothing's done!
Easy on there.
It's not too short?
I told you, Lieutenant, I'm the best barber in Lens.
Even the mayor used to come to my shop!
And Henri Hennebicque, was he a customer?
Hennebicque...
Doesn't ring a bell.
My father-in-law,
deputy mayor, lives at 21 Cypress Alley.
You never told me.
Cypress Alley, I know it well!
Been a few times to have my bike fixed
at Narcisse Denoyelle's, number 43.
Right, I can see it now, a little blue gate.
I feel I can tell you, now...
Sometimes, of an evening,
I head up along the embankment towards the farm,
softly softly, so not to get killed.
I sit down
and I look...
I know the Delsaux farm well.
I'd cycle there for eggs and milk.
Just beyond the farm is the road to Lens.
Straight to Lens.
On foot, I'd be home in an hour.
No bother,
one hour!
My mother would be waiting at the door,
a full pot of coffee
on the stove, just like before...
What a nuisance, these damn lice!
There you go.
I think I'm done, Lieutenant.
Well?
Ponchel,
there's no mirror in front!
Christ, what an idiot!
But you're grand, Sir, tip-top for the party tonight.
- If you say so! - I do...
Welcome, Miss.
My pleasure.
Miss Sorenson, most honored.
I will not tolerate mistakes!
Clean that up at once!
Know where Nikolaus Sprink is? He arrived about an hour ago.
Sprink? The tenor?
Miss, though we've owned this house for 300 years,
it is no longer our home since September 23 last.
Ask elsewhere, if you would.
With any taste
they'll have put him in my room
on the top floor.
You poor thing!
Good taste indeed!
Prussians with taste!
You shouldn't even answer those people.
No!
I have lice.
We'll sing again together, just like before.
I am not like before, Anna.
Sing for me! Sing for us!
Your Highness.
I'm glad to see the war has spared you.
That you volunteered
as a private,
was most impressive.
I did not volunteer.
I was called up like all the others.
I congratulate you on your initiative, Miss.
It takes a woman to remind us that despite the war, it is Christmas.
Thanks to you and your voices,
tonight shall feel just like Berlin,
where I hope to return as soon as possible.
Perhaps next spring,
if all goes to plan.
Next spring!
If you are by my side...
I go joyously...
Toward death and to my repose...
You smoke?
Everyone smokes in the trenches.
You kill time as you can.
It's five years today since we met.
Oslo...
Five years already?
To have to brush with death to realize how time flies.
That's the terrible thing.
All these fat, sated men parading, swilling Champagne.
Anna, I must return to the front...
to sing for my comrades.
Tonight, above all.
For months I've dreamt of this and you want to go?
I don't want to leave you,
but I must go sing for them.
I'll return afterwards.
I'll come too.
Out of the question!
It's too dangerous. You don't realize.
When you left, not a second passed
without my wondering if you were still alive.
You are and I am with you. Nothing else matters.
I've too long awaited this night.
I'll not lose a single instant.
And without my pass from the Kaiser
you'll not get far.
You have a pass from the Kaiser?
"The Major General places his trust in you."
Hell, Lieutenant!
Couldn't they leave us be on Christmas Eve?
The dirty work always falls to the same!
I volunteer to go.
I want no trouble, Gueusselin.
Approach their lines, recce the machine guns and back.
Understood?
With this moonlight can I return fire if spotted?
Stealth and speed if you want a hot meal.
They seem to be having fun.
Wouldn't you like to as well?
- This is Anna Sorensen. - Good evening.
Good evening.
What's all this?
Are you mad bringing this lady here?
Lieutenant, I convinced the Kronprinz
that a little music would do no harm.
Very well.
Fire away.
Lieutenant!
Come quickly, something odd is afoot.
I don't like this, Lieutenant.
Could be a diversion for some dirty trick.
Get down!
Good evening, Englishmen!
Very nice, but that's enough.
This is not the Berlin opera.
You're right.
It's better than Berlin.
Well I never!
That beats the lot...
A summit meeting and we're not even invited!
Shut it, Ponchel!
What the hell's going on?
What the devil are they up to?
Maybe the Germans are fed up.
They want to surrender.
I doubt it.
Give me a bottle of champagne and my beaker.
What idiot did...
Merry Christmas!
Good evening, I'm Anna.
You first... Go ahead.
Felix!
Where have you been?
No, his name is not Felix, it's Nestor.
- It's Felix... - No, Nestor.
It's the cat from the Delsaux farm.
No, I know better than you.
Here, I've had enough.
See? It's Nestor.
Nestor's heading for the French side.
My wife.
A little hotel on Rue Vavin.
Spent a week there with my wife,
two years ago.
For our honeymoon.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Hold on, that's Gueusselin's bottle!
Who cares, he's turned in.
I doubt it.
Thank you,
very much...
Sirs.
It's good!
How many months pregnant was she there?
Five months.
That was in Lens, at her parents'
last July...
Then there were complications, she was confined to bed...
I asked to stay by her side, but no go.
Called to war, I'd to leave her there.
But...
Don't you write?
How is she?
I've had no letters since September.
The front is impassable.
I don't even know if it's a boy or a girl.
Hey, Scotsman!
Don't go for the piety either?
The French gave me some champagne.
Like some?
Come.
Sing for us.
Sing for them.