Never have I been moved so much by a movie. I first saw it in France, with my wife, in December 2005, after having spent the week in Ypres and its surrounding battlefields. As a historian, I am aware of the extremely localized setting of the 1914 Christmas truce and thus, of its geographical (un)importance. I am also aware of the highly stylized and symbolic rendering in the movie, of the real events of 1914. But as a soldier, I cannot help thinking "My God, what if the truce had spread all along the line until all soldiers refused to wage this (in retrospective) basically useless war?" Simply hearing "Bist Du bei Mir" will forever bring tears to my eyes.