Review of Enemy at the Gates (2001) by Alexandra A — 22 Mar 2009

Jude Law plays Vassily Zaitzev, a Russian shepherd who is drafted into the Soviet army and dispatched with other troops to help halt the Nazi advance at Stalingrad (now Volgagrad) during World War II. The Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point in World War II as Hitler's long running string of military victories was halted and his armies faced their first real defeat. The Nazi advance across Europe was halted here and the German army began its slow retreat from Russia.

But the broader geopolitical implications of the battle for Stalingrad are in the background in this movie as the focus quickly shifts to the struggle between the Russian draftee, Vassily, and his German opposite, Major Konig (played by Ed Harris). Konig is a professional army sniper who trains snipers for the German army. Vassily is a peasant who has been raised by his grandfather to conserve scarce ammunition by making every shot count by bringing his prey down with a single shot. But Vassily and Konig are in reality just pawns in the larger struggle between Moscow and Berlin as victory at Stalingrad is crucial to overall victory and victory for Vassily or Konig is crucial to victory in the Battle of Stalingrad.

The movie opens with Vassily stalking and shooting a wolf in the frozen Russian countryside and then quickly moves to his being drafted and put on a troop train to Stalingrad. The scene is bleak as the raw recruits leave the train and get into boats to cross the river to Stalingrad. In the water they immediately come under fire from the German artillery but face certain death from the guns of the Soviet Army if they turn back. Once inside the demoralized and besieged city, Vassily puts his shooting skills to good use. Danilov quickly sees Vassily's potential as a morale builder and convinces his superiors to utilize Vassily as a sniper.

The cinematography and settings are used very effectively to convey the harsh and brutal conditions that residents and members of both armies had to endure as they coped with the brutal Russian winter and the all out devastation of modern urban warfare.