If you know your history, you know that the Battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point in World War II. When the seemingly unstoppable German army pushed far into the Soviet Union and laid siege to the Russian stronghold, evil manipulator and murderer, Joseph Stalin (our ally, lol) declared that the city that bore his name would never be taken, and that it be defended it at all costs. The new film “Enemy at the Gates” takes place smack dab in the middle of the historic confrontation, as Germany was struggling to find a way to push the Russian Army out of the crippled city.
Loosely based on a true story, the film presents famed Russian sniper and war hero Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law), who is immediately thrust into the deadly battle at the beginning of the movie. The opening battle sequence is breathtaking and really makes you thankful you were never in the Russian army.
Besides the fact Vassili is unarmed (because they were only issuing weapons to one person out of two), he survives an idiotic offensive issued by the Russian commanders, who in turn were shooting their own men as they retreated (that’ll teach ’em). Vassili finds himself hiding among the bodies of dead soldiers, and it is there that he meets his friend and newspaper contact, Danilov (Joseph Fiennes). Vassili snipes a few German officers and escapes with Danilov to the chaotic Russian entrenchment and immediately becomes a propaganda tool for the Russian newspaper. Danilov provides the words and Vassili becomes a war hero. His presence in Stalingrad becomes an inspiration to the Russian soldiers in the field and to the people reading the newspapers at home. The Germans realizing Vassili’s popularity and his importance to the Russian army’s success, dispatch their own sniper to flush out the red bandit in Major Koenig (Ed Harris). Germany wants Vassili dead and Russia wants Koenig dead; thus begins the cat and mouse game that occupies the rest of the film.
“Enemy at the Gates” is a very visually and structurally entertaining movie despite the fact of one thing. Tania (Rachel Weisz), becomes Vasilli’s love interest in the movie, creating a love triangle between her, Vassili, and his friend, Danilov. In my book this part of the movie drags on and on. It totally ruins the pacing and basically screws up the last half of the movie. It isn’t that love stories are bad, but this one was totally misplaced.
The movie comes back though with a pretty cool ending, but a film that starts out as an “A+” is severely hampered.
Overall, I liked “Enemy at the Gates”; it has a rare panache that most war movies lack.
It is also a different look at World War II, as none of the characters are American, which is kind of a switch from the conventional settings. Without the love story, “Enemy at the Gates” is an easy “A” movie, but unfortunately Hollywood proves once again it knows how to ruin a good story. I give “Enemy at the Gates” a “B-.” Good, but could have been better.