Starring: Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes, Ed Harris
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Rated: MA15+
THE battle over Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest conflicts in World War II.
The German and Russian armies lost thousands of men in this drawn out campaign. For the Russians, national pride was at stake, and so poorly trained conscripts were sent to the city to “win at all costs”.
Enemy at the Gates begins with the Russians re-taking part of their city.
Like Saving Private Ryan and Pearl Harbour, this 20-minute sequence captures the brutality of war and profiles the human sacrifice involved. It is not for the faint-hearted!
Cornered on every side, Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law), a Russian infantryman turns the outcome of the battle with his expert marksmanship. The Soviet political officer, Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), seizes on Vassili as the hero that the Russian people need. A military star is born.
Very loosely based on historical characters, Enemy at the Gates is three stories in one: How Danilov exploits Vassili and then loses control of his media creation; the duel to the death between Vassili and German Major Koning (Ed Harris), the finest marksman in Hitler’s army; and an obligatory but silly front-line romantic triangle involving Vassili, Danilov and comrade-soldier, Tania (Rachel Weiz).
Like Saving Private Ryan and Pearl Harbour, the brutal battles are the most compelling scenes in the film, but unlike the US propaganda in these films, Enemy at the Gates is much more complex where the Russians and Germans both come out badly.
This film is an interesting exploration of how war propaganda needs celebrities for morale, and it makes a noble contribution to showing anyone who needs convincing how futile and evil war is.
Jude Law and Ed Harris give engaging performances, but Joseph Fiennes and especially Bob Hoskins as Khruschev verge on parody. The decision not to modify any actor’s accents is disconcerting. These soldiers sound like they have just arrived from South London or LA rather than Moscow or Berlin.
Enemy at the Gates is an expensive, stylish and accomplished film but the dark and grey art direction not only conveys the bleakness of this epic siege, it also cools down any passionate and emotional response one could have to this tragic chapter in 20th century history.
