I do love watching Christmas movies. Last year, in a Christmas movie post called Christmas Movie Themes I came to realize that the movies that I had chosen all shared a common theme … redemption. The one I want to share today contains the same theme, and in such a beautiful, such a tender way.
It is a movie that is told to be based on true events. The details are such that it is almost unbelievable, yet my soul hopes and desires to dream that it could be so. According to Unsolved Mysteries, who had aired the story, it was true, and solved.
The movie is called “Silent Night” and it is set in Germany, on Christmas Eve, in 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge. It is the story of a twelve year old German boy, Fritz Vincken, and his mother, who were staying in their cottage in the woods. That night, they had two sets of visitors, a group of three American soldiers looking for a place for an injured soldier, followed by a group of three German soldiers.
What follows is a retelling of that Christmas Eve night.
This Hallmark, TV movie, first aired in 2002, the same year that Fritz Vincken died.
Linda Hamilton plays Elizabeth, the mother of young Fritz, and she does so convincingly.
This is one of my most favorite movies of the season. It reminds us of common human experiences, and emotions, even for wartime enemies. It captures an impossible scenario, one of peace in the midst of war.
Check your local TV listings, as I am certain that it will be on this season. It is also available on Youtube, in parts, which you will see after watching the following trailer.
This is a link to a written interview with Fritz Vincken
itsawonderfilledlife 