Good war movie

Rating: 7/10 (3 June 2003)

I definitely recommend Enemy at the Gates. It is an epic (my favorite type of movie) with the Battle of Stalingrad as the backdrop. Its focus is on the battle between two snipers, the Russian played by Jude Law and the German played by Ed Harris. Two supporting characters are a Soviet political officer played by Joseph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz as the love interest. Bob Hoskins is also very good as Nikita Khrushchev. Although it is shown mostly from the Russian perspective, it shows the flaws and cruelty of both the Soviets and Nazis. As a person who is a history buff, I appreciate the large-scale portrayal on the big screen of a historical event that did not involve Americans.
Regarding the controversy over the accents used, I personally agree with the decision to not have the actors use Russian and German accents. The most authentic way to present this event is to have the movie done in Russian and German. If you think about it, having these historical dramas done in the English language is not completely "realistic". Obviously, they are done so to make them accessible to the American audience (and the increasingly English speaking international community) and hence more profitable. If there are no English speaking characters in the event being shown, forcing actors to speak English with accents does not make it more real.
Back to the movie, kudos to the producers for making a tense, gripping, war drama.