Somewhat forced blend of history and Hollywood

Rating: 8/10 (3 October 2001)

Enemy At The Gates initially reminded me of a lot of other films; three which spring directly to mind being Saving Private Ryan for the grueling slaughter of almost helpless troops in the opening ten minutes, Shot Through The Heart for the opposing snipers theme, and Full Metal Jacket for the tension of urban close-quarters combat. This is not a historical document on the battle of Stalingrad, nor does it pretend to be, though the events depicted are, by and large, historically accurate, down to the character of the Russian sniper Zaitsev (Law). It should be noted, however, that the central character Zaitsev was by no means the only sniper of note at Stalingrad, and while some Soviet sources claim the duel with Koenig (Harris) actually occurred, this is not widely accepted, as no reports from the period make mention of it. Overall, I found the film gripping and entertaining as the relationship between Vassili Zaitsev, a conscript who finds himself used as a propaganda tool due to his skill as a sniper, and Danilov (Fiennes), the political officer who acts as his "agent", develops. The mutual love interest Tania (Weisz) acts as a catalyst to the rivalry as Zaitsev comes to resent Danilov making political capital of him, which justifies the presence of the, presumably, historically inaccurate romance in the film. While a number of points jarred about the film, the accuracy of the uniforms, equipment, and vehicles is commendable from the point of view of a military history buff like myself. The actors do a fine job overall, and a number of the performances were refreshingly out of character - Law is distinctly rough around the edges for a change, and Bob Hoskins is almost unrecognizable as Nikita Kruchschev. However, both Harris and Fiennes leave an annoying amount of ambivalence as to the motivations and psychological makeup of their characters. A flaw in scripting of Zaitsev is his sudden hate towards Koenig at the end, despite the fact that Koenig has been picking of his comrades for the best part of the film. Also, given the carnage inflicted upon the troops on both sides and the civilians stuck in the middle, there is marked lack on the part of all characters of revulsion and resentment for the fact their political leaders are putting them through the meat grinder. Apparently, only American troops gripe about feeling their lives are being wasted for no good reason. But all this does not detract from the fact that Enemy At The Gates is well-researched, well-made, and thoroughly entertaining overall.