''Silent Night'' is a 2002

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

set on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...

in 1944, during the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and is loosely based on true events.

Plot

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

mother, Elisabeth Vincken (

Linda Hamilton Linda Carroll Hamilton (born September 26, 1956) is an American actress. She played Sarah Connor in the ''Terminator'' film series and Catherine Chandler in the television series ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1987–1990), for which she was nominat ...

), who had already lost her eldest son in the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

and whose husband is a cook serving in the

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

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

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

forests region of western

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. 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, pe ...

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 baked or cooked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, nuts ...

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, and also one of the Germans, who is only fifteen - neither side wants him to die in a future battle. 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 Sinelnikoff (born 1 August 1928) is a British actor. He is known for his role as Professor Arthur Summerlee on the television series ''Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World'', and has been seen in a variety of film roles such as ''300' ...

) 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 o ...

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'' (2002), Joey Perrotta in ''Baby for Sale'' (2004), and Tom in '' Mères et filles'' ...

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 television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States a ...

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 James Gelfand (born April 3, 1959) is a Canadian jazz pianist who has written scores for film and television. Early life Gelfand was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada into a large Jewish family. He is the great-grandson of Jacob Pascal, founder ...

* 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 show, 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, Karl ...

'', 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