"Silent Night" Movie Made by byutv

There have been some dreadful shows on TV lately...the new Toy Story Christmas (that blue girly dinosaur, what were they thinking?), the CMA Christmas one and last night, reaching a depth of badness that is surprising even for TV, the Rockefeller Lighting of the Christmas Tree! (Darius Rucker and Trisha Yearwood were both good, but other than that...terrible!)

But wait, it really is my intention to write about things that are GOOD rather than bad! I must tell you to watch a movie that was first shown in 2012 but I only just saw it on TV this past weekend and it is one that you MUST watch!  It is...."Silent Night".  (Now, there is a horror movie with that same name made that same year...it is NOT that one!!)
And I have read that in 2013, the Catholic Church bestowed a Gabriel Award upon this film.  
"It's our intent to shine a light on media that is positive, that uplifts the human spirit," said John Kearns, a chairman for the Gabriel Awards committee.

"Silent Night" is about the true story of Joseph Mohr, the assistant priest in Austria who wrote the words to "Stille Nacht", which is Silent Night in German. (The words that we know in English were translated by John Freeman Young...and he deserves his own post!) The beautiful melody is by Franz Gruber and I think that he also deserves a post of his own!   The song was first sung at a mass on Christmas Eve in the small village of Oberndorf, Austria (not far from Salzburg) in 1818.

The song "Silent Night" is a very beloved song and I am surprised that a movie has not been made about the origin of the song before now. This movie was written, produced and directed by Christian Vuissa, an Austrian who filmed this movie in Austria!  (The scenery is beautiful.) This movie was a production of the TV station, BYUtv, which is part of the Brigham Young University from Utah.  I have a trailer of the film for you here...

 

It has always been told that the organ broke down in the church in Oberndorf and that is why the song was first played on the guitar and that is how it was portrayed in the movie.  I do wonder though after watching this, if the young priest might have simply just wanted to hear this beautiful melody on the guitar rather than the organ and could it be that is how it happened? His earnestness might also be matched by his love for music. (Which might have a touch of irony since he wrote the words to this, but not the music!) This is just wondering on my part, but it seems to me that he could possibly have convinced Franz Gruber that the guitar suited the song better.  I suppose we will never know for sure, but the details of that do not matter much to me. What does matter is that we are left with this most beautiful hymn.  It is simple but truly lovely, "warm and tender, like the warmth you feel around a fire".   Make sure you watch this movie! You may see it here!  (That link will take you to the byutv website and you should just click on and watch the movie.)

A song about the night of the birth of Jesus- worth watching, I should think.
 And in the famous words of Linus, "THAT's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown!"