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

7 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 | world war two soldier | weapon | 

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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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Certificate:

14A

Did You Know?

Trivia

It is estimated that the Axis suffered 260,000 soldiers killed in action with 90,000 captured during the Battle of Stalingrad. The Soviet casualties were much more severe with an estimated 500,000 soldiers killed and probably at least as many civilians.

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Goofs

The scenes depicting officers mowing down line after line of retreating soldiers with machine gun fire is both inaccurate and impractical. Blocking detachments did exist, but they actually arrested or beat these much needed men, while shooting them in plain sight of their comrades was only an exception. Stalin did issue Order 227, instructing never to retreat, but this applied for unauthorized retreats from occupied position, not charges. In reality, deserters and fleeing soldiers would most often sent to penal battalions, when they got cannon-fodder missions or used for mine clearing. This also was a moral booster, as Soviet officers did realize its importance, as well as the use of propaganda -much better than Americans or British, in fact- and they were masters on it, so execution and punishment for these act were usually kept hidden.

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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 Call of Duty (2003)

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Soundtracks

Cto Stois, Hacajas' Tonkaja Ajabina
Written by Aleksandr B. Shalov
(C) Rara Music, Baden-Baden
Performed by Inna Samain, Victor Goggol, Sergiy Chernov, Olexandr Derhachov

User Reviews

Stalingrad action pic only

Not a bad war film - but only if you know nothing about the actual battle. The film makers are entitled to take artistic license, and although some historical characters are present in the film, it never even comes close to portraying the battle as it was. Much of the fighting lacks reality and the computer generated Stuka dive bombers attacking reinforcements crossing the Volga are totally unrealistic.

The film takes a quick peek at several themes of the actual battle but explores none - including the character of Zaitsev himself, whose role in the battle was quite different from Law's character. It is worth mentioning that several other Russian snipers, in Stalingrad and elsewhere, killed many more Germans than Zaitsev. It is also amazing how many people believe that Konig is based on a real character called Hartmann, A good tale, but untrue. Still, its a decent film, but the real Stalingard epic has yet to be made

Details

Country:

Ireland UK France Germany USA

Language:

English German Russian

Release Date:

16 March 2001 (Canada)

Also Known As:

L'ennemi aux portes

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