''Silent Night'' is a 2002

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

set on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

in 1944, during the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and is loosely based on true events.

Plot

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

mother, Elisabeth Vincken (

Linda Hamilton Linda Carroll Hamilton (born September 26, 1956) is an American actress. Known for portraying tough, resilient characters, she made her film debut in 1979 before achieving fame with her starring role as Sarah Connor (Terminator), Sarah Connor i ...

), who had already lost her eldest son in the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

and whose husband is a cook serving in the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

, and her younger son, Fritz, are seeking refuge in their family's hunting cabin near the front lines in the

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

forests region of western

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. They encounter three

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

soldiers who enter the cabin, and then soon after three German soldiers join them. After much resistance the mother manages to convince the enemy soldiers to put aside their differences for one night and share a Christmas dinner. The Germans were planning to kill the Americans, but eventually they and the American soldiers share their rations to make a proper Christmas dinner. This includes homemade

cookies A cookie is a sweet biscuit with high sugar and fat content. Cookie dough is softer than that used for other types of biscuit, and they are cooked longer at lower temperatures. The dough typically contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of ...

and other goodies. Throughout the night the Americans and Germans befriend each other, despite the fact that they will eventually have to return to the war. The next morning an American MP comes and is surprised by what he sees. As he learns of what has happened he turns his rifle on the American soldiers and begins talking with the Germans. Realizing the officer is really a German soldier who has infiltrated the American lines, the Americans surrender and the three German soldiers get their weapons. The German infiltrator then orders the three other soldiers to execute the Americans. Just before he is about to shoot the mother, one of the German soldiers knocks him out, saving her. The soldiers depart, with the Americans taking the German infiltrator as a prisoner of war. They also, at the request of the senior German officer, take the 15 year old German soldier with them to serve out the rest of the war as a POW. This is due to an earlier conversation where both senior officers expressed their concern to each other that the teen wouldn't survive. The Germans also return to their side. All say goodbye and wish each other good luck for the rest of the war. In the present day, an elder Fritz (

Michael Sinelnikoff Michael G. Sinelnikoff (1 August 1928 – 1 July 2024) was a British-born Canadian actor, director, producer, and writer. He is known for his role as Professor Arthur Summerlee on the television series '' Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World' ...

) is visited by Private Jimmy Rassi's grandson, Christopher, with Fritz handing over Rassi's

dogtags Dog tag is an informal but common term for a specific type of identification tag worn by military personnel. The tags' primary use is for the identification of Casualty (person), casualties; they have information about the individual written ...

which were used to adorn the top of the cabin's Christmas tree.

Cast

as Elisabeth Vincken *Matthew Harbour as Fritz Vincken *

Romano Orzari Romano Orzari (born 12 December 1964) is a Canadian film and television actor. He played Hoagy Carmichael in '' Bix'' (1991), Pvt. Jimmy Rassi in ''Silent Night "Silent Night" () is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xa ...

as Pvt. Jimmy Rassi *Alain Goulem as Sgt. Ralph Blank *Michael Elkin as Pvt. Herbie Ridgin *Martin Neufeld as Lt. Hans Klosterman *Mark Antony Krupa as Sgt. Marcus Mueller * James McGowan as Capt. Dietrich *Cassian Bopp as Pvt. Peter Heinrich

Award nominations

''Silent Night'' was nominated for four

Gemini Awards The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in th ...

at the

18th Gemini Awards The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's 18th Gemini Awards were held on October 20, 2003, to honour achievements in Canadian television. The awards show, which was hosted by Seán Cullen, took place at the John Bassett Theatre and was bro ...

held in 2003: * Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series: Rodney Gibbons * Best Original Music Score for a Program or Mini-Series: James Gelfand * Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series: Eric Cayla * Best Sound in a Dramatic Program: Scott Donald, Richard Betanzos, Véronique Gabillaud, David Gertsman, Michael Gurman, Paul Hubert

Notes

* The story was profiled on ''

Unsolved Mysteries ''Unsolved Mysteries'' is an American mystery documentary television series, created by John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer. Documenting cold cases and paranormal phenomena, it began as a series of seven specials, presented by Raymond Burr, Kar ...

'', in which Fritz Vincken was seeking the information on the soldiers. The episode resulted in Vincken being reunited with Ralph Blank in 1995.Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8 Episode 12 - Full Episode
/ref>

References

External links