Nope...sorry

Rating: Null/10 (6 November 2001)

ENEMY AT THE GATES kept me interested, don't get me wrong. But there is one thing about movies, especially war movies, especially war movies based on a true event, that just gets to me, and it starts drilling into my brain, making me shift uncomfortably in my seat as I watch. The lack of realism. This movie contains plenty of that.
The opening sequence... magnificent. I was expecting a brilliant movie to follow. And what's sad is that it could have been. The story that "Enemy at the Gates" is based on is intriguing, a great aspect of a war that recently has only been told about from the American point of view. Vassili (Jude Law) grew up hunting, thus explaining his remarkable ability to handle a sniper rifle in the war. He becomes a valuable weapon to the Red Army, which has been suffering from overwhelming defeats and from low morale. Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), a soldier who is also in charge of a Russian newspaper, begins spreading the word of Vassili's talent throughout the army, making him a superhero to the depressed soldiers. Major Konig (Ed Harris) of the German Army, also an accomplished sniper, is sent to eliminate Vasilli.
The sniper scenes between the two are very well-done, but my question is, where are the rest of the people? I have a very hard time believing that Vassili and Konig were the only two people in the entire city of Stalingrad at this time. Where is the rest of the Red Army stationed there? Where is the rest of the German Army? It is not only one street that is silent... it is the whole city. Vassili and Konig are basically wandering throughout the entire city just looking for each other. Here and there someone will pop up, but it's not believable. Just that lowers my opinion of the film.
I also don't understand the position of Danilov. In the beginning, when Vassili first finds him, he is a young, terrified soldier hiding amongst dead bodies, afraid to shoot a weapon, and then later he is a powerful officer running his own newspaper. The transition was too sudden, too unrealistic. One minute he's just an average guy and the next he's this bigshot with much influence. Didn't like it.
And the accents... oh man, the accents. I understand that director Jean-Jacques Annaud was possibly trying to make it easier for the audience to understand, but this was just ridiculous. Jude Law and Joseph Fiennes, both portraying Russian soldiers, didn't even attempt to change their British accents to adapt to their roles. And Ed Harris... well that is the most American-sounding German soldier I have ever seen. I would rather not be able to understand a few lines in the movie because of realistic accents than have no accents at all.
The scenes... they ended too abruptly. One scene Vassili is in a building carefully being watched by Konig and a few others... the very next scene he's safe in someone's home. One scene two Russian soldiers are in a building where a German sniper is waiting... one dies, and in the next scene the other is safely at home. No. Didn't like.
And Konig's relationship with the boy. Horrible. "Don't leave home or I'll have to kill you." Boy leaves home, Konig simply kills him with no resistance from the boy. But Konig just doesn't shoot him... he hangs him off a high pole in the middle of the city. Again, where are the rest of the people as this happens? The boy is hanged so high up... surely someone would see him and Konig as it was happening.
And, like someone else here said, if Konig could find Vassili so easily, why did he need a sniper rifle? Why couldn't he just take a grenade or a bazooka or a mine or some other explosive and just get it over with? All the tension? Sure, I understand that in real life it really was a sniper fight, not a bazooka fight, but it just gets ridiculous after a while.
And the sex scene! It was entirely unnecessary, and entirely too long! It just went on and on and on... and on! I thought it would never end. I had to ask myself if the movie had taken on a new focus. I wasn't sure. No... no... no...
As an entertaining film, it's alright. As a realistic historical film, which it is supposed to be, it's not alright.
ENEMY AT THE GATES - 2/10