Enemy at the gates film review năm 2024

Autumn 1942. As the Nazis struggle to take hold of Stalingrad, Russian sniper Vassili Zaitsev is built into a local hero by propaganda officer Danilov, his expert shooting skills boosting fading morale. His supremacy is challenged by the arrival of crack German marksman Major Konig, and an intensely private battle begins as the war rages around them.

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Was Enemy at the Gates a good movie?
What did Russia think of Enemy at the Gates?
What is the story behind enemy at the gate?
How historically accurate is the movie Enemy at the Gates?

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Enemy At The Gates

Reputedly the most expensive Euro project ever produced, it's easy to see where the money went on Jean-Jacques Annaud's thoroughly entertaining World War II drama. In tackling a real-life chapter from the Russian war, Annaud certainly doesn't skimp on the breathtaking spectacle.

Early scenes of the Russian army on boats being bombarded by aircraft - footsoldiers scrabbling over the sides to safety are shot by their officers for deserting - and the subsequent scramble across Stalingrad Square are writ large and spectacular, the mêlée captured in muted, harrowing tones.

Surprisingly believable as a man of action, Law looks every inch the haunted sniper. His scenes with Fiennes capture the warm friendship between the two, but both actors struggle to find depth in characters that lack sides and shades. The story throws up interesting brain food about the nature of propaganda and the paradoxes of Zaitesev's (Law) popularity – he is a lone hero in a land that believes in the equality of people – yet fails to follow these themes up.

Moreover, the three-way love story between Zaitsev, Danilov (Fiennes) and literate soldier Tania (an adequate Weisz) fails to convince. While the single love-making scene gets a believable scene of grabbed intimacy, the ménage-à-trois often lapses into a movie-movie feel that is at odds with the realistic tone of the combat footage. Similarly, the script lacks the political intelligence (an overly earnest voice over intones, "Europe lies crushed beneath the Nazi jackboot") and the sense of complexity that marks out the best of epic cinema. Compounding the simplistic tone of the piece, Bob Hoskins lends an overwrought presence as Khrushchev.

Yet where Enemy At The Gates really impresses is in its central tussle between natural sharpshooter Zaitsev and clinical assassin Konig (Harris). Annaud gets fascinating mileage in the duel of wits between the two men – to ascertain Zaitsev's position, Konig sends out a Russian captive dressed as a Nazi, hoping Zaitsev will shoot – filled with nifty sniper technology.

The duel reaches its high point in a gripping, expertly crafted set-piece as, stranded without his gun, Zaitsev takes refuge behind a cooker in a derelict factory and Konig is forced to flush the Russian out. The quality turn of the movie, Ed Harris is great as a reserved, calculating marksman, but always hints at a buried humanity (as in his scenes with a Russian moppet), never lapsing into the typical Nazi monster.

For all its grit, Enemy At The Gates is a throwback to older war movies in its lack of historical savvy and caricatured love story. Still, the central duel serves up a gripping battle of wits.

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Stalingrad, 1942-43. It was the bloodiest single battle in the known history of war, with more than one million perishing of wounds, disease, and the bitter cold of winter. Like Napoleon a century earlier, Hitler came to Stalingrad with the aim of breaking the spirit of Russia, and, also like the French little general, he was faced with catastrophic losses. The toll taken upon the German army at Stalingrad represented one of the turning points of World War II. Most history experts agree that had Hitler not persisted in trying to take the Soviet city in what turned into a personal contest with Stalin, the Third Reich might have triumphed on its western front.

Like Joseph Vilsmaier's powerful 1993 feature, Stalingrad, Enemy at the Gates elects to view this conflict from the point-of-view of a limited group of characters, rather than attempting to tackle the battle in an epic format. The film takes actual historical figures and imbues them with traits that allow their private struggle to mirror the overall conflict. However, as interesting as some of the ideas underlying the film are, and as technically adept as the production is, I had a hard time liking Enemy at the Gates. There's an emotional coolness to the picture and the characters are kept at a distance. There's also a lack of dramatic tension. The movie always moves in the direction of an inevitable conclusion, with minimal suspense along the way. As fascinated as I was by the historical backdrop against which the struggle occurs, I found it difficult to care one way or another about which characters lived or died.

The movie opens in September 1942. The Germans and Russians are engaged in a fierce battle for control of Stalingrad, and both sides acknowledge that, from a propaganda standpoint, the city is the key to whether the Soviet Union stands or falls. Into this conflict comes Vassily Zaitsev (Jude Law), a rural farm worker who has arrived in Stalingrad as a soldier. He quickly shows his mettle as a sharpshooter, and a local political officer, Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), works to develop his legend to mammoth proportions. As Danilov argues to Krushchev (Bob Hoskins), who has come to Stalingrad to oversee the city's defense, the Soviet Union needs heroes to boost morale, and he has decided to build Vassily into one. The Germans counter by bringing in their own renowned sniper, Major Koenig (Ed Harris). Soon, Vassily and Koenig are locked in a life-and-death struggle that is played out in the ruined streets of the city. Meanwhile, Vassily and Danilov have both fallen in love with Tania (Rachel Weisz), and their rivalry over the woman threatens their friendship.

Enemy at the Gates has all the elements necessary for a compelling war film, but the lack of character depth coupled with director Jean-Jacques Annaud's detached style, makes watching this movie an uninvolving experience. There were times when I admired Enemy at the Gates, but I was never really drawn into the story. The cat-and-mouse games between Vassily and Koenig, which form the movie's backbone, are not suspenseful. Instead, they feel perfunctory and obligatory. We realize that nothing is going to happen to resolve the conflict between these two until the end of the movie, so all of the in-between shoot-outs are padding. The various subplots, which have been added to give the story additional meat, are predominantly underdeveloped. The most interesting of these - Danilov's building up of Vassily's reputation (followed by a hurried attempt to tear it down) - is presented almost as an afterthought. The use of propaganda to fashion heroes is potent stuff and deserves a more comprehensive exploration than what Enemy at the Gates offers. In addition, the romantic triangle between Vassily, Danilov, and Tania is written and developed on the level of a soap opera.

The battle sequences, especially those with the bombs bursting in the air above Stalingrad, are impressive, as is the attention to detail. There's a little Saving Private Ryan in some of the early sequences. As soldiers are being transported across the Volga River to Stalingrad, their boats are strafed by Luftwaffe aircraft. Dozens are killed or injured, and those who try to escape by jumping overboard are shot by their own commanders. The verisimilitude of the film's battle re-creations is enhanced by a grim atmosphere (accomplished largely through dim lighting, an abundance of browns and grays, and a lack of bright color) but it doesn't extend to the characters, none of whom are more than shadows of real human beings. The epilogue, which has a tacked-on feel, is out-of-place and designed largely to placate audiences distressed by the film's downbeat tone.

As Vassily, Jude Law does a solid job re-creating a conflicted war hero who doubts his own prowess with a rifle when faced with a superior adversary, but there's little humanity in the portrayal. There are things to appreciate about Law's performance, but he's working with a thin and sketchily drawn character. Joseph Fiennes is overwrought and unconvincing. As Major Koenig, Ed Harris brings a commanding presence to the screen, doing what he can with an underwritten part. Finally, there's Rachel Weisz, whose Tania may be the only individual in the film for whom we evolve a reasonable sense of sympathy.

Director Jean-Jacques Annaud is not known for developing emotionally rich cinematic tapestries. His films often come across as visually stimulating but aloof. Enemy at the Gates falls prey to those characteristics. The movie squanders too many opportunities. For those who appreciate history and want to understand a little more about what went on during the battle of Stalingrad, I recommend Vilsmaier's movie. Enemy at the Gates hints at, but never achieves, greatness. Instead, for all of its impressive technical qualities, it ends up as a mediocre and mostly forgettable war film.

Was Enemy at the Gates a good movie?

Entertaining but cheesy, war B movie. The writing can be hokey and mopey too. Ed Harris is good as a aging, softspoken but manipulative Nazi sniper. Yet its irritating hearing Russian soldiers speak in British Accents, only the American Ron Perlman attempts an actual Russian one.

What did Russia think of Enemy at the Gates?

Some Red Army Stalingrad veterans were so offended by inaccuracies in the film and how the Red Army was portrayed that on 7 May 2001, shortly after the film premiered in Russia, they expressed their displeasure in the State Duma, demanding a ban of the film but their request was not granted.

What is the story behind enemy at the gate?

The movie Enemy at the Gates, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and starring Jude Law, Ed Harris, Rachel Weisz and Joseph Fiennes is a fictionalized account of the true story of Vasilii Zaitsev, a Soviet sniper who won fame during the battle of Stalingrad.

How historically accurate is the movie Enemy at the Gates?

Is “Enemy at the Gates” based on a true story? Yes, “Enemy at the Gates” is loosely based on the real-life events that occurred during the Battle of Stalingrad. While the movie takes some creative liberties, it does incorporate elements of the actual historical event.