Enemy at the Gates (2001)

A Russian and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad.

Director:

Jean-Jacques Annaud

Writers:

Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard

Stars:

Jude Law, Ed Harris, Joseph Fiennes

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jude Law	...	Vassili
Ed Harris	...	Major König
Rachel Weisz	...	Tania Chernova
Joseph Fiennes	...	Commisar Danilov
Bob Hoskins	...	Nikita Khrushchev
Ron Perlman	...	Koulikov
Eva Mattes	...	Mother Filipov
Gabriel Thomson	...	Sacha Filipov (as Gabriel Marshall-Thomson)
Matthias Habich	...	General Paulus
Sophie Rois	...	Ludmilla
Ivan Shvedoff	...	Volodya
Mario Bandi	...	Anton
Hans Martin Stier	...	Red Army General
Clemens Schick	...	German NCO (as Clemans Schick)
Mikhail Matveev	...	Grandfather

Storyline

In World War II, the fall of Stalingrad will mean the collapse of the whole country. The Germans and Russians are fighting over every block, leaving only ruins behind. The Russian sniper Vassili Zaitsev stalks the Germans, taking them out one by one, thus hurting the morale of the German troops. The political officer Danilov leads him on, publishing his efforts to give his countrymen some hope. But Vassili eventually starts to feel that he can not live up to the expectations on him. He and Danilov fall in love with the same girl, Tanya, a female soldier. From Germany comes the master sniper König to put an end to the extraordinary skilled Russian sniper.

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Plot Keywords:

sniper | stalingrad | battle | russian | battle of stalingrad | 

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Taglines:

A battle between two nations became a conflict between two men.

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong graphic war violence and some sexuality

Details

Country:

Ireland UK France Germany USA

Language:

English German Russian

Release Date:

16 March 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Enemigo al acecho

Filming Locations:

Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$68,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,810,266, 18 March 2001

Gross USA:

$51,401,758

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$96,976,270

Company Credits

Production Co:

Swanford Films, MP Film Management, Little Bird

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Outside of Zaitsev's own accounts of the war, there is no evidence for the existence of Major Konig.

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Goofs

The countries shown in the animated sequence as having been conquered by Germany in 1942 are incorrect. Switzerland and Turkey, for instance, were neutral and had not been invaded.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Grandfather: [whispering to boy aiming rifle] I am a stone. I do not move. Very slowly, I put snow in my mouth. Then he won't see my breath. I take my time. I let him come closer. I have only one bullet. I aim at his eye. Very gently, my finger presses on the trigger. I do not tremble. I have no fear. I'm a big boy now. Ready Vassili? Now, Vassili, fire!

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Crazy Credits

The end credits are slanted and curved

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Connections

Referenced in Black Sea (2014)

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Soundtracks

Valenki
Written by Aleksandr B. Shalov
(C) Rara Music, Baden-Baden
Performed by Inna Samain, Victor Goggol, Sergiy Chernov, Olexandr Derhachov

User Reviews

Takes a few wrong turns, but ends up effective for people in which it sounds interesting. Good performances. *** (out of four)

ENEMY AT THE GATES / (2001) *** (out of four)

By Blake French:

"Enemy At The Gates" takes place in 1942 and details a cat and mouse chase between two snipers. The mouse is a young Russian named Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law), who arrives on the shores of the Volga River to defend Stalingrad, an important city in which the German's are attempting to capture. Zaitsev soon finds himself befriending a political officer named Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), who is impressed by the soldiers quick skills and decides to glorify him through the local press. Zaitsev becomes a political icon for the locals, giving them encouragement and increasing their hope for victory.

The cat is an opposing sniper named Major Koenig (Ed Harris), a famous sharpshooter called upon to kill Zaitsev. Koulikov (Ron Perlman), another talented sniper, is assigned to help Zaitsev in killing Koenig before the Major takes a victory shot. To further complicate matters, Zaitsev falls in love with another soldier, Tania (Rachel Weisz), whose parents were killed by the enemies, and wants to redeem their honor.

"Enemy At The Gates" certainly paints a vivid, graphic depiction of war. The atmosphere is unsettling and bleak, the characters are almost always dirty and sleepless, the fighting scenes consist of brief, short, instantaneous shots, but the sequences are fast-paced, genuine, and disturbing. The city looks battered and tormented. The dialogue goes hand and hand with the character's actions; the plot is challenging and the movie is focused, about something solid. In the sequences where Koenig and Zaitsev challenge one another, the tension is very effective. The movie tends to realize that, and concentrates a great deal of effort in making those scenes suspenseful and taut.

Joseph Fiennes plays a meek, nervous character and does a good job at bringing him to life believably. Jude Law, whose last work in "The Talented Mr. Ripley" provides a tough act to follow, accomplishes great things with a determined and assiduous character. Ed Harris is the standout actor here, in a harrowing, steadfast, juicy performance. Rachel Weisz cannot do a whole lot with her character, however. She often feels strained and contrived.

"Enemy At The Gates" tries hard to express the subject of the media's influence in our culture. If the film, co-written and directed by Jean-Jaques Annaud ("Seven Years in Tibet"), would have stayed on that concept, it would have been a whole lot better. The romance between Zaitsev and Tania is kind of unnecessary, and I am not sure if the sex scene is obligatory or advances their relationship. This love side story lacks passion; a lot of it feels mechanical and routine. "Enemy At The Gates" is still a consistently intriguing war film-rare because it does not involve Americans. While we are never really concerned about the outcome of the actual war, nor do we entirely care about several aspects of the main characters, there are many good scenes of suspense, and the overall mood of the movie is effective. "Enemy at the Gates" is worth seeing if it sounds interesting to you.