Pickelhaubes and Teddy-Bears

Some days I hate living in the cultural wasteland that is Fredericton.  (The last time I said this in public, it caused another patron at Chapters to start laughing.  However, it does sum up my opinion about this city.)

It's rather obvious when it comes to films.  It's a university town, but unless you want to download them, then finding somewhere to watch any sort of foreign film can be next to impossible.  Renting them?  Most video stores don't carry much more than a cursory selection of the classics (to paraphrase Curt: it's sad that Truro has a better selection of foreign films for rent than Fredericton).  As for the cinema itself?  Ha!  With the exception of movies that become a phenomenon (i.e. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), the local cinema wouldn't dare to challenge the average movie-goer's intelligence with anything short of a series of explosions.  (And if it involves any sort of subtitles (other than when it's the aforementioned phenomenon)?  Ooooh boy, you're not actually suggesting their patrons have to read?)  There is, of course, always the university film society, but they only run a few months of the year, and only ever have one showing of any given film.

(Before anyone accuses me of being an elitist snob: yes, I am.  And before anyone tells me that not all foreign films are good: yes, I am well aware of that.  It's just like anything: there's good, and there's bad; I just don't have much tolerance for the standard, clichéd, Hollywood popcorn fare that gets shown most of the time.)

Anyways, the point of this rant was a French film: Joyeux Noël.  (Which is actually in English, French, German, and Latin, according to IMDB.  Quicktime trailer over here.)  Ok, so it looks a bit sappier than my usual tastes, and I feel that the Christmas truce has been over-mythologised, but how many films get produced that have anything to do with World War I in any way?  (A subject I have an interest in.)  Besides, they appear to have actually done some research, as I didn't notice a single Brodie, Adrian, or Stahlhelm featured prominently in the trailer.

Of course, the fact that I'd like to see it means that the website for the company that owns the local cinema doesn't even acknowledge that it exists.

(For the curious: Pickelhaube and teddy-bear; both of which appear to be at least briefly visible in the trailer.)