 
Director: Rodney Gibbons
Cast: Linda Hamilton, Matthew Harbour, Romano Orzari, Alain Goulem, Martin Neufeld
Format:Â 1 DVD
Certificate: PG
Running Time:Â 86 mins
Availability: 3rd November
There are many war movies which are set during the Christmas season, but very few leave a lasting effect once the film has finished – and SILENT NIGHT has the ability to do just that.
We’re taken back to Christmas Eve 1944, just after the Battle of the Bulge. A mother and her young son are seeking refuge in the family’s hunting lodge in the middle of the Ardennes Forest and the journey they take is perilous and thought-provking as they walk through the war-torn woods, approaching the front line and passing dead bodies, troops of soldiers and tanks.
Upon arriving at the lodge, two American soldiers turn up, carrying one of their wounded. Reluctantly, Elisabeth Vincken (Linda Hamilton) allows them to enter, but on the premise that they leave their weapons. Conflicted by her emotions, she is far from being a patriot having lost her eldest son at Stalingrad, it is likely her husband is also a fallen man and all the while, her youngest, Fritz, would like to join the Hitler Youth, which she wants to prevent at all costs.
Whilst assisting the badly wounded soldier, a group of three German soldiers arrives at the hut and the encounter almost ends in mutual shooting. After some initial discussions and negotiations they agree to leave their weapons behind, enter the house and spend the night there in peace.
In what would be the most memorable Christmas of their lives, they sit around the table, share their food, tragic stories and discuss the effect the war has had upon them. Through the moments of sentimentality, a truce beckons, but only temporarily, however, the tensions do not subside completely. The German lieutenant cannot remain peaceful, as he is full of bitterness and aggression, however, after a moment of escalation, he starts to see the error of his ways.
In a final test that truly strains their newly found friendship one evening, will their mutual respect for one another remain?
Very often during the festive season, a multitude of sugary sweet films with adorable kids and Santa stories often take precedence, but SILENT NIGHT is definitely not one of those films. It is as intelligent as it is touching, with the memoirs of an exceptional and true night in the life of a young boy and his mother.
The casting is superb, Linda Hamilton manages to touch the heart of each of her guests and indeed the audience watching the film. Hamilton’s delivery beautifully demonstrates how she stirs the soldiers’ humanity and their wishes for the end of the war and she leads a solid cast in this wonderful, warm story.Â
Frau Vincken, and the young men who play the GI’s and Wehrmacht infantrymen, convincingly convey the snow-blanched weariness and wariness that surely contributed to the real participants’ touch-and-go attempt to lay aside their arms for one last wartime Christmas.
SILENT NIGHT is evocative and illuminating of this momentous event in history and the plot is a welcome reminder to what the true meaning of Christmas should be: compassion and caring overcoming hatred and hostility.
SILENT NIGHT is available to buy on DVD November 3rd.
