Tonight, these men were drawn to that altar like it was a fire in the middle of winter. Even those who aren’t devout came to warm themselves.

The events of Joyeux Noël would scarcely be believed if the movie was a work of pure fiction. The greatest strength of Christian Carion’s film is that, if it were mere fiction, the film might actually make you believe the incredible events. The story is crafted carefully and the characters well-drawn, so that when the central event of the film occurs, their motivations and actions are believable within the context that they take place.

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We don’t stop them there, they could end up here.

And they’re welcome to it.

Gallipoli is not as much a war movie as it is a road picture with the Battle of Gallipoli as the destination. The story only gets down to the business of war within the last 30 minutes of the film.

This battle is to Australians in many ways what Pickett’s Charge was to American South in our Civil War, a moment of definition for the national character. The fact that it was a folly that ended tragically is part of the point. For those who see battle as the ultimate test of manhood, to advance in the face of the certain death is the unquestionable display of your commitment to duty. The second and later waves of Australian soldiers to go over the edge of the trenchline during the Battle of the Nek were as certain of their fate as any man in Pickett’s divisions.

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