War films, as a genre generally, offer insights into the human condition Show which other movies do not. Its the threat of death and immediacy of loss that allow stark and painful ideas to emerge. With the constancy - and inescapable fear - of harm, driving these movies, its easy to be equally captivated and mortified. I found Enemy At the Gates one of the most terrifying, gut wrenching films I have seen. One almost feels a gung ho immunity after watching other war films but this film breaks through such defences. I felt a creepy paranoia watching scenes such as those where soldiers are gunned down by their comrades to prevent retreat. It illuminated too vibrantly the horror and waste of war. This is very much a grunt movie - in the battle zone and without any outside influence bar the haunting and equally terrifying opening. Jude Law's Vasilli Zaitsev is a young boy in this early scene, being taught to shoot at a wolf lured by a restrained horse left in the open as bait. The chilling pressure of this early flashback is continued throughout the film which then launches into the deadly battleground of Stalingrad. Its World War 2 and as the German army advance through Europe and into Russia the likelihood of German victory seems increasingly certain as the Russian spirits crumble in the face of superior military strength. It comes down (in the film's narrative anyway) to a young writers' propaganda to lift the pride of the army. Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) finds in the now grown sniper Zaitsev the spirit of victory and uses pamphlets and newspapers to promote the shooting prowess and hiding skills of Zaitsev. As morale builds and Zaitsev becomes a hero to the Russian people, a rift grows between the two men whose friendship is tested by their conflicting love for a young female sniper, Chernova (played by Rachel Weisz). The film is beautifully made and features a suave, cruel villain in the form of Ed Harris' icy Major Konig. A scene towards the end reveals the unspeakable, hideous depravity of Nazism and left me stunned.Jude Law captures a shattering innocence that is heartbreaking while Joseph Fiennes offers a restrained and moving vision of a man in the background. Weisz is probably the least well served in character terms but she does well with her limited role. Its not a rousing film but it is instead intensely powerful and extremely unsettling. A film for the big screen, where the loud gunfire and clouds of smoke can be truly appreciated. A crushing reminder of the grotesque potency of war. 0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote. Permalink It would be all too easy to dismiss Enemy At The Gates as being an attempt to cash in on Saving Private Ryan's success, but in my opinion, it is a very worthy competitor. In fact, it is a better film. I say that primarily because I am sick to death of Americans using World War II as a basis for films that generally amount to little more than propaganda. Of course, Enemy At The Gates comes off as being somewhat fantastic due to its attempt to balance entertainment with historical fact, and it came as a surprise to me to learn that Sergeant Vassili Zaitsev was a real person (whose sniper rifle is still an exhibit in a Russian museum), but this makes it all the more entertaining to watch. A lot of historians have it that the battle of Stalingrad was the most unpleasant one fought during the second World War, and this film's set design and cinematography capture that impeccably. When the Russians are battling the Nazis, you get the idea that if the Nazis didn't kill them, malnutrition, tetanus, scurvy, bubonic plague, or a million other things would. Jude Law and Joseph Fiennes lend authenticity to their roles that makes it even easier to follow them on their personal journey through hell, and Ed Harris is scarily convincing as a high-ranking Nazi. The real surprise here, however, is Rachel Weisz as Sergeant Tania Chernova, and the very heart and soul of the film. When she describes the reasons why she decided to take up a gun and battle the Germans, it all makes so much sense that you just want to buy the poor girl a beer and give her a good warm embrace. Not that such things would erase the scars that her character bears, but one would feel obligated to try. Writer/Director Jean-Jacques Annaud, writer Alain Goddard, and cinematographer Robert Fraisse treat the subject matter with great care towards authenticity and entertainment value. It's very tricky to get these two things in proper sync, but they more than manage here. They also don't rely on any hokey photographic effects to tell the story, simply letting you see everything as clearly as possible, letting your imagination do the rest. Anyone who's read anything credible about the inhuman suffering the Russian soldiers endured during this battle will have no trouble filling in the gaps that the narrative leaves about their living conditions. The blood and gore shown during the battles is also very conducive to the atmosphere. Rather than just expecting you to believe that a solider gets his stomach spread all over half a kilometer of pavement by enemy bullets, they show you so you can get a feel for how bloodthirsty both sides in the confrontation were. Even the sex scene doesn't look out of place here. To make a long story short, this is the first film I've seen in a long, long time that I haven't been able to come up with a list of criticisms for. It is simply excellent, and the 7.1 rating it is currently stuck with does not do it justice. It is easily superior to the likes of Platoon, the equal of more esoteric war films such as Three Kings, and it is miles above the likes of Saving Private Ryan and Pearl Harbour. Vassili Zaitsev would be very happy that his struggle has inspired such a commendable piece of art - it is exactly the sort of thing he and millions of others like him (on both sides of the planet) were fighting for. How accurate was the movie Enemy at the Gates?The film uses events from William Craig's 1973 nonfiction book Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad but is not a direct adaptation. Historian Antony Beevor said he believed Zaitsev's story to be fictional. There is no documentation about the duel between Zaytsev and Major Erwin König. Was Enemy at the Gates based on a true story?The movie Enemy at the Gates, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and starring Jude Law, Ed Harris, Rachel Weisz and Joseph Fiennes is a fictionalized account of the true story of Vasilii Zaitsev, a Soviet sniper who won fame during the battle of Stalingrad. What is the story of the movie Enemy at the Gates?Vassili (Jude Law) is a young Russian sharpshooter who becomes a legend when a savvy polical officer (Joseph Fiennes) makes him the hero of his propaganda campaign. Their friendship is threatened when both men fall in love with a beautiful female soldier (Rachel Weisz). As the battle for the city rages, Vassili faces the ultimate challenge when the Nazi command dispatches its most elite marksman (Ed Harris) to hunt down and kill the man who has become the hope of all Russia.Enemy at the Gates / Film synopsisnull Why is Enemy at the Gates rated R?Parents need to know that this is a very tense and violent movie, with graphic battle scenes and piles of dead bodies. Characters are in constant peril and many are killed, including a child. There is a brief but fairly explicit sexual encounter with brief nudity. The characters use strong language, drink, and smoke. |
