A remarkable series of cinematic set-pieces: unfortunately it lacks the courage of its moral convictions.

Rating: Null/10 (17 June 2001)

It seems that `Saving Private Ryan' is casting a long shadow over war films. Once again, audiences are having the dubious pleasure of experiencing the `gross-out' opening battle sequence. In the case of `Enemy at the Gates' it certainly makes the point that the director, writer and cast think that war is a Bad Thing in general. After this, it seems the film would like to raise more complex moral questions about patriotism and propaganda, and most importantly whether we can ever sublimate individual desires to one collective goal. Indeed, Joseph Fiennes' multi-faceted performance as the Political Officer, militarily inept but skilled in creating a dream to motivate the citizens of Stalingrad portrays well the anguish of a small but perceptive cog in a very large system.
By contrast, Jude Law's bluff unpolished depiction of Vassily, the proletarian `Hero of the Revolution' who is incapable of really seeing the wider picture presents a remarkably unsophisticated answer to the questions raised by the immorality of the entire Soviet hierarchy (brilliantly portrayed by Bob Hoskins as an archetypally ruthless Nikita Krushchev before he learnt some skills of political diplomacy). This results in confusion for the sort of film-goer (like me) who likes either to clearly sort out in his or her mind who are the `goodies' and the `baddies' or to treat everyone on a level playing field. The problem was compounded by the fact that the crack German marksman (Ed Harris) recruited to duel with Vassily seemed equally charismatic and his superiors appeared equally amoral. But the German aristocrat's one act of appalling cruelty jars with the other hints that are dropped about his character (for example, the fate of his son) and certainly gave the impression that the writer felt that some clear red water was needed to distinguish nice Vassily from the nasty Nazi, with Joseph Fiennes' character acting as an unhappy medium. Yet the `happy ending' seemed forced too; are we really supposed to be pleased that Vassily was decorated for services to Stalin's state and helped indirectly to preserved the web of evil that nourished people like Krushchev?
However, if we do not delve too deeply into the moral justifications for the characters, `Enemy at the Gates' can be enjoyed as a directly told, well acted series of exciting set-piece duels in the great tradition of Hector and Achilles, Aeneas and Turnus and quite possibly Tom and Jerry- for I certainly wasn't meditating on the futility of warfare by the end of the film but cheering on Vassily by the end and hoping he would take out the horrible Kraut.
A note on the vexed question of accents: although Jude Law's Sarf Lundun twang gave me a surprise (especially as I had watched him play Lord Alfred Douglas in Wilde the previous night!) I don't see why it is alvayz necessary for Germanz to talk like zis in films simply to allow to slow-witted viewers to work out which country each character comes from. And yes, Bob Hoskins' amazing variable Moscow/Walthamstow dialect was a little off-putting. No doubt DVD on the box stood for Dick Van Dyke on this occasion. But isn't it far more important to have acting of good quality per se than to worry about whether an actor can pronounce the letter `v' as `w' and vice versa (or even wice wersa)?
Overall: B+++