powerful albeit inconsistent

Rating: 6/10 (30 August 2005)

SPOILERS So few talk about the Russians. When we consider the second of the twentieth century's two bloody wars, all too often the main parties are listed as Germany, Britain, France and America. We talk of allies fighting evil, and yet we all too often ignore the sacrifices and efforts of the Russian war machine. Millions dying in huge blood baths, some suggest the war would not have ended how it did had Hitler not attacked the Eastern Front.
2001's "Enemy at the Gates" attempted to shed some light on the suffering of the Russian people and tell the story of a real life hero. Recounting the tale of Vassili Zaitslev (Jude Law), the story is full of numerous factual errors, but that doesn't stop it from being at times incredibly powerful and tense stuff. The shame however is that this just does not last and towards the end, the film becomes a bit of a struggle to watch. A shame after such a promising start.
Vassili Zaitslev (Law) and Commisar Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) are friends who use a talent of Vassili's for shooting Germans to turn him into a Russian hero. Killing Germans at an amazing rate, Vassili is loved by his fellow Soviets. To kill the myth, the Germans have an idea. Despatching their own crack sniper in the form of Major Konig (Ed Harris), Vassili soon finds himself being gradually hunted by a superior marksman.
Just like Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan", "Enemy at the Gates" attempts to get you absorbed straight away by throwing you into the heart of a blood soaked battlefield. Attempting to demonstrate the horrors of war, it shows you the Russian attitude to traitors as well as the general conditions and supply standards.
All too suddenly, the story changes however. From an intense and gut wrenching opening scene, the story switches to a more subtle, still bloody, tale of two men fighting against each other. Almost as if they felt they needed to shove in a rudimentary war scene to match 'Ryan', the opening scenes are of little similarity to the rest of the film and you have to question their relevance.
Once you do bypass the massive slaughter and retreat to the cat and mouse game of Law and Harris, the story takes off in a different direction and for the most part, you do sense that this is going to be a good film. Gritty and realistic, the pure intensity when the two men are stalking each other is genius. Again though, just when it takes off, you find yourself stranded in a pointless love triangle with Law and Fiennes fighting for the affections of Rachel Weisz. One minute you have intensity, the next you find yourself rather bored. It's a weird situation to be in, and ultimately it is a tad disappointing.
Eventually events unfold more or less as you'd expect, people die, others live, so on so forth, and constantly the intensity ranges from powerful to not existent. 'Total Film' magazine has this wonderful idea where they show on a graph the excitement levels. Designed to show how a film varies from exciting to tedious, it would be of little surprise if their graph for this film was one long picture of peaks and slumps. The film thrives when Law is fighting Harris, but any other time and you might as well put the kettle on.
Another problem, albeit a minor one, is the character of Sacha Filipov (Gabriel Marshall Thomson). Admittedly brave, the character suffers from the simple fact that Thomson infuriates throughout. It's something to do with his voice, but sadly the actor (recognisable as Michael in BBC Comedy Series "My Family") really manages to grate the nerves as you watching him.
Thomson aside, the acting is of a relatively average level throughout. Weisz pouts a lot whilst trying to look upset, Law tries to look intelligent, Fiennes just looks angry. In fact, other than the consistently brilliant Harris, only Bob Hoskins (as Khrushchev) makes a lasting mark. It's a shame his appearance is so limited.
The impression remains that "Enemy at the Gates" should have been an amazing film. Occasionally powerful, and often brutal, it suffers badly from a complete lack of consistency. With a pointless love triangle and some irrelevant scenes, the film should be considerably shorter and focus more on the rivalry of Law and Harris. When the two men are pitted in a battle of wits, you genuinely feel absorbed and moved, then Harris disappears and Law continues to fall for Rachel Weisz. It's like two halves of a coin. On one hand you have a dirty, powerful, war movie about two men trying to kill each other, and on the other you have an irrelevant romance with little going for it. Perhaps one day someone will construct a version of this film where only one side is visible, but until that day, "Enemy at the Gates" is a huge disappointment.