I Forgot, Who Won this war--The English or the Americans

Rating: Null/10 (31 March 2001)

_Enemy at the Gates_ is another in what will be a long line of movies wanting to get to the screen before the upcoming blockbuster multi-million dollar destined hit _Pearl Harbor_. This one is a little different from the others, as it is a historical piece about the bloodiest battle history has recorded. And of course the film makers spent a pretty penny on blood in their filming.
The sets are wonderful, the story is touching and entertaining, and the acting is passable. The problem I had with the film is a common one, I had a really hard time with the dialogue. This is a story based on the German invasion of Russia in 1942; specifically the long-fought defense of Stalingrad by the Russians.
Mandalay Entertainment, the production company behind some great hits in the past has put together so many great historical and foreign films that I was very excited to see this historical film. Why they decided that the Russians should all be portrayed by English actors (complete with English accents and phraseology) and the evil Germans should be embodied by very American Ed Harris is beyond me.
Is it an anti-American statement? Is it an anti-Russian statement? Or is it something much simpler? I believe that this film was made for an American audience who simply do not understand anything other than English, and can't read (subtitles in a film tend to mark it for video in this country, after the art house crowd get done with it). Will this film play in Russia? Yes. Will the Russians like it? No. And they should, this is a famous story from Russian history which paints the right people in a positive light and the others in a negative light. It's a hero story about a famous historical Russian hero. This film should be a love letter to Russia from the producers, but the language thing is a really bummer. Will they over-dub it in Russian for the release? Maybe. But, why? Why not over-dub it in English for the dumb Americans? Oh yeah, the Americans have all the money, and they love spending it on entertainment. Oh, and they love films who spend a lot of money on fake blood. --Basil