| ENEMY AT THE GATES |
2001 - Germany
/ USA / UK / Ireland
Director:
Jean-Jacques Annaud - Reviewed by Tim  War
is just brutal; it pits man against man in a survival-of-the-fittest scenario
that ultimately ends badly, no matter who wins. Wouldn’t it be better if a war
was fought by the two opposing leaders playing a really intense game of chess or
Battleship or some other strategy game? How about a nice game of Twister? A 10-round match of Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots perhaps? Just a suggestion…
Enemy at the Gates is based on the true story of a Soviet sniper (Vissily Zaitsev) and the German sniper (Major Konig) who is sent to kill him. Fall 1942 – The Nazi front has moved east to Stalingrad and the city is now composed, mostly, of bombed out buildings and large fires. The Red Army has just shipped in a new wave of recruits who have not seen any battle. Scared for their lives, they are sent towards the German line in pairs (one with a gun, and one without), like lambs to the slaughter… “The man with the gun shoots. When that man is dead, the other man will take the gun and shoot.” If that weren’t bad enough, the soldiers who turn back are shot by their own side for deserting. This scenario brings to light the shooting ability of Vissily (Jude Law) when he comes to the aide of an army journalist called Danilov (Joseph Fiennes). Over the course of the next few weeks/months, Danilov uses Vissily’s track record to boost morale by publishing the number of German officers that he’s killed. By putting Vissily in the public eye, the Germans decide to bring in their best shooter, Major Konig (Ed Harris) to take care of the embarrassing situation. This is where the game of cat and mouse begins. The supporting cast includes Bob Hoskins playing Krushchev (funny, that…) a ruthless general in the Red Army. When he walks on screen, you’re not quiet sure if he’s going to be able to pull it off, but once he starts barking orders and showing off his hideous teeth, you forget it's Bob Hoskins. There is also the love interest Tania, played by Rachel Weisz. Tania reminds us of the fact that there were women fighting along side the men in this war. She turns out to be a sore spot between Vissily and Danilov. There have been many comparisons to Saving Private Ryan, in the way the story is told and some of the graphic content, but I think this movie stands on its own. I find it interesting that Enemy at the Gates is told from the Russian perspective and without an American in sight. That is a refreshing and a welcome change of pace for a wide-release big budget movie. I say go see Enemy at the Gates and enjoy. |
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