Directed by: Christian Carion

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: The story of the truce between certain French, German and Scottish soldiers during World War I at Christmas.

Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): A ginger tabby cat, the resident of a nearby abandoned farm, appears several times throughout the film and plays a notable role. The cat is first seen in the French trenches with Ponchel (Dany Boon) while the soldiers are eating their Christmas dinner.

As the Scottish soldiers play a song about home, Ponchel holds the cat closer.

When the Scottish and French soldiers walk into No Man’s Land to meet the German soldiers, Ponchel is approached by Jörg (Frank Witter) who offers him some chocolate. Ponchel gives Jörg some champagne in return. It is then that the cat approaches and Jörg greets the cat as Felix.

Ponchel is quick to correct the German soldier and explain the cat’s name is Nestor. It turns out the tabby has been visiting both trenches and has become the companion of both men.

The tabby spends time between the trenches and also at the farm. Ponchel is pouring coffee for the officers when he hears the cat meowing somewhere behind. But the next time the cat is seen he is in the arms of Jörg in the German trenches.

Felix / Nestor is then seen running from the German side to the French side across No Man’s Land with Jörg swearing “Damn that cat!” and Ponchel calling, “Here, Nestor!”

Later the French commander of the trench, Lieutenant Audebert (Guillaume Canet) is being scolded by the General about the Christmas truce. The General says he doesn’t understand a war “in which people swap addresses with the enemy to meet when it’s all over. Plus the cat we found with a note from the Germans, “Good luck, comrades!” He goes on to explain that he was ordered to arrest the cat for high treason. A drawing of the cat is seen at the end of the film.

Behind the Scenes

Kitty Carnage Warning! In reality the story of the cat had a much sadder ending. In an interview with the film’s director, Christian Carion, he explained that the real incident happened in 1916 in the east of France in an area which was calm. There were no hostilities and the soldiers weren’t shooting at each other. A cat had grown accustomed to going from the German trench to the French one for food. But once when it returned to the French side it was wearing a collar, which it never had before. There was a note on the collar written in poor French which said, “Which regiment are you from?” They gave the cat to the lieutenant who gave the animal to his captain, then up the chain to a division General. The General read the note and said, “But this is espionage. Who brought it?” When he was told it was a cat he decided to follow the book and arrested the cat, passed judgment on it and shot it for treason and conspiring with the enemy.

Carion went on to explain that he thought this was an interesting story and incorporated it into the film. He originally shot the scene with the cat being shot but didn’t keep it because he tbought that, even though it really happened, he didn’t think the audience would ever believe it. “And I didn’t want the audience to lose faith in me over a dead cat.”

Final Mewsings: Cats don’t choose sides.

Many thanks to Mark Murton for reminding us of the cat in this film.

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