Trivia / Joyeux Noël

• Actor Allusion: The French lieutenant compliments his German counterpart on his excellent French compared to his poor German. The German lieutenant responds "but your wife is not German." Guillaume Canet, the actor who played the French lieutenant, was married to the German actress (and a co-star in the film) Diane Kruger at this time.
• The Cast Show Off: Multilingual skills of several actors, especially Daniel Brühl (the German lieutenant) and Diane Kruger (Anna Sørenson), who switch back and forth between English, German, and French. Guillaume Canet (the French lieutenant) speaks only French and English and Alex Ferns (the Scottish lieutenant) sticks only to English, though.
• Fake Nationality:
  • Danish singer Anna Sørensen was portrayed by German actress Diane Kruger, who was married at this time to French actor Guillaume Canet, who played the French lieutenant in the film. This provides occasion for an Actor Allusion when the German lieutenant remarks "but your wife is not German" when his French counterpart compliments him on his excellent French.
  • Interestingly, while Kruger speaks fluent French, Canet does not speak German, like the French lieutenant he plays in the movie.
• Non-Singing Voice: Nikolaus and Anna's performances are dubbed over by two opera singers.
• What Could Have Been: A scene was planned in which the cat that had been ferrying messages back and forth was to be shot by firing squad, just as it had been in real life, but the extras point-blank refused to take part in such a scene. The cat's fate was duly downgraded to merely being imprisoned.

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