"Enemy at the Gate"
In 1942 and '43, during the bloody battle of Stalingrad, a new kind of hero arose from the ranks of the Soviet army. Vassily Zaitzev (Jude Law), a simple shepherd from the Urals, is thrust into the limelight when he guns down five Nazi officers, from a distance, with just five shots. As he continues to rack up kills against the German invaders, a master sniper is sent by Hitler to kill the young hero in "Enemy at the Gates."
Jean-Jacques Annaud directs this epic-scale story of the private war that takes place between Vassily and German sniper par excellent, Major Konig (Ed Harris), with the murderous battle for Stalin's namesake city as its backdrop. Jude Law stars as the young Red Army soldier whose shooting skills come under the scrutiny of Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), a political commissar who sees Vassily's enemy-killing potential as a morale booster for the beleaguered Russian troops.
As Vassily's reputation for killing Nazi officers rises on both sides, the Germans send their own expert marksman, Konig, to Stalingrad to gun down the young Russian hero. This begins a battle of wits in a cat-and-mouse game as the hunters, themselves, become the hunted. As the war rages on between the two great armies, Zaitzev and Konig each try to best the other. Danilov uses this personal fight as a propaganda tool to elevate Vassily to hero status in the eyes of the Russian people, soldiers and civilians alike.
Meanwhile, both Vassily and Danilov are attracted to a beautiful American-educated Russian woman, Tania (Rachel Weisz), and a love triangle begins. This is where "Enemy at the Gates" runs into trouble ? the battle of the snipers takes a back seat to the love story and the film suffers for the change of focus.
Director Annaud and cowriter Alain Godard use the real-life story of Vassily Zaitsez as the basis of their tale. The duel of the snipers, Vassily's rise to hero of the Soviet Union, and Tania's presence during the private war are all based on fact. The scripters, in their research of facts and legends, take liberties with the true-life yarn, introducing the conflict between Vassily and Danilov in their pursuit of the beautiful Tania. This tangent takes the focus away, considerable, from the taut battle between the Zaitzev and Konig.
Where "Enemy at the Gates" excels is in the depth and breadth of the battlefield production. The film begins with an old-fashioned map of Europe where, suddenly, the Nazi blight spreads across the face of the continent with the roving camera eye closing in on Stalingrad! With that, we're thrust into the war from the point of view of young recruit Vassily. He and his comrades must cross the Volga River through a murderous barrage of bullets and bombs to reach the front. These untrained conscripts are prodded kicked, even shot by the political commissars to get them to fight. These action sequences, especially the battle itself, is stunning in its depiction of the savagery of war.
The casting and acting, for the most part, is serviceable, but without distinction - with a couple of exceptions. Ed Harris gives an expected excellent performance as the aristocrat hunter turned sniper master sent to stalk and kill Vassily. He carries himself with the assured air of a man of means and stature, used to having the best in all things. Harris neutralizes his American accent, giving it a slight Teutonic clip in keeping with his character. The rest of the cast doesn't make such an effort so we get an odd mix of mostly British accents from the rest.
Notable among the cast is young Gabriel Thomson as little Sasha, a Russian kid who becomes a pawn in the battle of wits between Konig and Vassily. When he gazes at Vassily with a look of admiration, he almost glows. The relationship that develops between Sasha and Konig, as the boy plays double agent for Danilov, is palpable. It is so much so that the break between the two, when it finally comes, did not sit right with me. Jude Law, a young actor whom I've grown to like, is vacuous as Vassily. The tentativeness he first displays is never lost even as he is supposed to become a battle hardened veteran. Rachel Weisz is pretty as the love interest, but is mostly just window dressing. Fiennes is wooden and unconvincing as the power hungry political commissar who sucks up to Nikita Khrushchev (Bob Hoskins), sent by Stalin to oversee the battle.
Technically, "Enemy at the Gates" is a superb achievement. The battle sequences are wrought with shockingly realistic action as the two armies collide. The computer-generated F/X, like the squadron of Stukas dive-bombing the troop boats or Junker 88's carpet bombing the ruins of Stalingrad, are seamless. The wide panoramic of the battle sequences are richly detailed with specifics, like tanks, weapons and uniforms, given a great deal of attention.
"Enemy at the Gates" tries to be two very different films and isn't really a success at either. It tries to be a compelling war drama of a duel to the death between two sniper masters. At the same time, it poses as a romantic drama with the war as a backdrop. I didn't get enough of one - the sniper battle, of course - and thought there was way too much of the other. It's a brilliant production, though, and I give it a B.
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