“Enemy At The Gates” Shoots Into Theaters

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It has been a while since a good World War II movie has been in the theaters. However, this lull in combat films was quenched with the release of “Enemy at the Gates,” a film loosely based on historical accounts of two snipers locked in a battle to the death.

The year: 1942. The location: Stalingrad, a powerful city deep in the Soviet Union. The German forces, advancing and devastating most of Europe, had met a serious resistance in the Russian army at Stalingrad. The Russians were succeeding in holding back the German army, but the Russian troops were feeling the effects of the ravaging war. Their courage and will to defend their country was quickly waning as the Germans advanced.

A solution for the declining soldier morale was needed, and the answer was in the personage of Vassili Zaitsev (played by Jude Law). A former farmer, Vassili was regarded as one of the best sharp shooters in the Russian army. Danilov (played by Joseph Fiennes) was a political officer who discovered Vassili’s talents, and decided to use Vassili as a heroic figure to boost the morale of the entire army. Accounts of Vassili’s triumphs and kills were published in the newspaper, and soon the sharpshooter was regarded as one of the best snipers in the Russian forces.

Intertwined with Vassili’s rise to fame was a relationship with another trooper, Tania (played by Rachel Weisz). Tania became emotionally involved with Vassili, and. tension ensued as the political officer, Danilov, fell in love with Tania; making for a love triangle destined to cause conflict between the main characters.

Added to the mix was the antagonist, Major Koenig (Ed Harris), a Nazi sniper that was sent in by the Reich to eliminate the Russian hero Vassili. Major Koenig posed the biggest threat to Vassili, who regarded the Nazi as a superior marksman. The remainder of the film follows Major Koenig and Vassili as they played a dangerous game of cat and mouse, while the war waged around them.

The movie was a great depiction of a story that is somewhat based on fact, though the truths regarding the real Vassili are varied. While there were not too many central characters, they were developed in great detail.

In addition, the film seems to market to both fans of war films, and those who enjoy love stories. While the majority of the film is about the war and the conflict between Vassili and Major Koening, there is an underlying story of forbidden/dangerous love between Vassili and Tania.

The movie gave an interesting glimpse into the conditions of war that existed in Russia during World War II. This is one of the rare movies that show the events of war from a different army’s perspective, instead of American. While it was a good film, at some points the scenes seemed to drag on, yet these spans of inaction do help to add a little tension to the plot.

Overall, if you would like to see a good war film, with not too much blood, or a fairly decent love story, then I would recommend that you see “Enemy at the Gates.”