Enemy at the Gates

[Jedi Master Carr]

I just rented this movie yesterday and I have to say it is one of the best films I have seen this year. One reason I really enjoyed it was how it showed a part of the war so infrequently shown in the Western World when it was what turned the war around. If Germany had taken Stalingrad Hitler would have took Russia making an invasion at Normandy almost impossible. Besides that fact I really loved how the director looked at the two sharpshooters, Vassill (Jude Law) and the Major (Ed Harris). There was some great suspensful scenes between those two and at times you wondered who was going to win. The only problem I had was a slight one and that was with the love story. For the most part I thought it fit into the movie but at the end (will not spoil it) there was a huge gap that probably should have been explained better. Still, it is great film and very historically accurate (from what I can tell, I don't know much about the real Vassill but the details about Stalingrad are mostly accurate). To me this is this is the best WW II film since Ryan easily better than Pearl Harbor which was hyped up more than this vastly underrated film.

[CMJ]

I really liked it when I saw it in the theatre....I'd like to revisit it. It'sdefinitely better than PH.

[JonathanLB]

I think I liked PH better, or I gave it a better rating, but I really liked Enemy at the Gates.

I bought it on DVD just the other day, in fact. My Amazon order arrived today.

In the last week, I've got Snatch, Once Upon A Time in China III, Se7en, American Psycho, Dude, Where's My Car? (for Seann William Scott), American Pie (Ultimate Edition), and Enemy at the Gates.

[Figrin D an]

Just some more info on Zaitsev and Koenig...

For the most part, the film didn't stray that much from 'perceived' historical fact. A few things were changed, however.

Zaitsev was never really a 'grunt' in the Soviet infantry. He was part of the sniper corp (which he helped to found) and, reportedly, was one of many snipers that were key players in the battle of Stalingrad. The existence of a 'Major Koenig' or 'Major Konings' on the German side is debatable. In the book 'Barbarossa', by Alan Clark, the German 'super-sniper' is named as the head of the German sniper school, Heinz Thorwald. Unfortunately, neither this claim, nor the one made in William Craig's book 'Enemy at the Gates' can be confirmed beyond the sketchy Soviet account of the events. (The primary story for the film was taken from Craig's book).

The generally accepted story is that, while the battle of Stalingrad waged in the summer and fall of 1942, Soviet snipers inflicted heavy losses on the German officer corp. In response to this, a German 'super-sniper', trained at Zossen, was sent to the front lines with the task of eliminating the lead Soviet sniper (Zaitsev) and any others that were discovered. The German 'super-sniper' killed one Soviet sniper and wounded another before Zaitsev engaged the 'super-sniper' a few days later. Zaitsev, supposedly, was able to determine the German sniper's position from light reflecting off of the telescopic sight on the man's rifle. After making the kill, Zaitsev's became a living legend in the Soviet army. It's documented that he made a total of 242 kills in his career.

A few other interesting things of note....

... Khrushchev's role at Stalingrad was overstated in the film. The real military leaders that helped to win the battle for the Soviets were Marshall Zhukov and General Chuikov (Chuikov later wrote a book about the battle). Once Stalin died, however, Khrushchev took full credit for the victory to help him become the Soviet premier in Stalin's place...
... Tania Chernova (Rachel Weisz's character in the film) was a real person and was, indeed, at Stalingrad throughout the months of the battle, serving in the Soviet military as were over a million other women. According to an interview done many years after the war ended, Chernova said that she and Zaitsev did have a 'special relationship' and that she had genuine feelings for him. Beyond that, the extent of their relationship is unknown...
... the political officer, Danilov (Joseph Fiennes' character) was a real person as well, but he certainly wasn't killed, as was shown in the film. He was a key cog in the propaganda machine that perpetuated Zaitsev's fame during and after the battle...


Keep in mind, I said earlier 'perceived' historical fact. The key here is that pretty much everything associated with the events of "the duel" is unconfirmed. It MAY have actually happened, but there is also a possibility that it was all a part of the Soviet propaganda machine. Beyond the factual existence of people like Zaitsev, Chernova and Danilov... everything else is open to interpretation.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Cool, thanks for the information, now I think I might pick up Craig's book to read more about it. I like to see how the book interprets the facts, (I read the book was critcally hailed by historians). I too wondered about Khrushchev's role there. I didn't think he did that much in WWII, and I was surprised to see no mention of Zhukov in the movie. He was one of the reasons the Allies won the war. I am guessing that the writers of the movie chose Khrushchev because most people know who he is, and I am sure he may have been there but I would doubt his role would have been that huge in the battle.

[JonathanLB]

That's awesome! Yeah I think the movie is even better because it's mostly pretty accurate. 242 kills, hehe, that's frickin' sweet.

Vasilij is an awesome main character and having Ed Harris play the antagonist was perfect. I really like the movie. Definitely one of the better war films I think and to me it's far superior to a plotless wonder like Saving Private Ryan.

[CMJ]

SPR had a plot..... I'm gonna have to restrain myself from an all out barage. :)