Storyline
During the WWII battle of Stalingrad, two snipers, a Russian, and a German, are locked in a battle of wills and marksmanship, while the Russian is boosted to the status of hero by a political official.
An extrordinary work of raw skill and imagination
A gut-wrenching and impressive hide-and-seek thriller that uses the bloody battle of Stalingrad (during the second World War) as the clever disguise here for a real battle of courage and determination. The film follows a young and highly talented Russian sniper from the Urals, Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law - "eXistenZ", "The Talented Mr. Ripley"), who gains national fame from the help of Danilov (Joesph Fiennes - "Shakespeare in Love"), a propoganda officer and his true love and fellow sniper, Tania (Rachael Weisz), who is also flirting with Danilov.
However, the Germans have an ace sniper of their own in Erwin Koning (Ed Harris - "Pollock"), a seasoned and out-spoken Major who comes to Stalingrad only to pick off Vassili. And before Koning leaves, his superior officer asks how he'll find Vassili. Koning says, " I'll fix it so he finds me."
The love triangle that director Jean-Jacques Annaud and co-writer Alain Godard put in the story shows that the pair took a chance and I'll give them credit for doing it. Plus, the love scene that Law and Weisz have is one of the strangest (no offense to either one) that I've seen.
The film's best moments come when Vassili tries to catch Koning off guard, but the problem is Koning is aware of what Vassili is capable of. I won't say how it's done, but the final confrontation is a genuine nail-bitter.
All of the performances here are powerhouse and that includes Bob Hoskins as Nikita Kruschev, a snarling and impatient man and Ron Perlman, who portrays Koulikov, a lieutenant whose teeth are all metal and serves as a guide for Vassili.
Robert Frassie ("Ronin") handles the movie's photography with care and the appearrence of Stalingrad itself reminded me heavily of the war-torn cities shown in Spielsburg's "Saving Private Ryan" and Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket". Also, James Horner conducts a tender and extremely mournful score that leaves a quiet yet important reminder of how awful war is.
"ENEMY AT THE GATES" is an extrodinary work of raw skill and imagination.
Directed by | |||
| Jean-Jacques Annaud | |||
Writing credits(WGA) | ||
| Jean-Jacques Annaud | (written by) & | |
| Alain Godard | (written by) | |
Cast (in credits order) verified as complete
 | Jude Law | ... | Vassili Zaitsev |
 | 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 N. Matveev | ... | Grandfather (as Mikhail Matveev) |
| Alexander Schwan | ... | Young Vassili Zaitsev |
 | Lenn Kudrjawizki | ... | Comrade in Train |
| Hendrik Arnst | ... | Fat Colonel |
| Claudius Freyer | ... | Aide de Camp |
| Dietmar Nieder | ... | Blond Captain |
| Bernd Lambrecht | ... | Captain with Lighter |
| Jim Dowdall | ... | Stubborn Feldwebel |
| Maxim Kovalevski | ... | Politruk / Sniper |
 | Gennadi Vengerov | ... | Russian NCO |
 | Dan van Husen | ... | Political Officer |
| Peter Silbereisen | ... | Sweating Officer |
| Markus Majowski | ... | Stammering Officer |
| Robert Stadlober | ... | Spotter |
| Gotthard Lange | ... | Corpse Robber |
| Anna Böttcher | ... | Female Russian Typist |
| Holger Handtke | ... | Paulus' Aide de Camp |
 | Marc Bischoff | ... | Stealing Photographer |
| Mark Zak | ... | Russian Captain at Headquarters |
| Thomas Petruo | ... | Russian Lieutenant |
| Dmitri Aleksandrov | ... | Comrade in Shelter |
| David Pagel | ... | Pravda Interviewer |
| Galina Dobberstein | ... | Izvestiya Interviewer |
| Igor Rozinsky | ... | Krasnaya Zvezda Interviewer (as Igor Rozinskij) |
| Sergei Tokarev | ... | Russian Reporter |
 | Tom Wlaschiha | ... | Soldier |
| Marischka Schubarth | ... | Woman Plucking Eyebrows |
| Natalya Bondar | ... | Woman Officer (as Natalja Bondar) |
| Dana Cebulla | ... | Athletic Female Sniper |
| Pjotr Papierz | ... | Politruk |
| Jarek Wozniak | ... | Politruk |
| Genia Makarov | ... | Politruk |
 | Werner Daehn | ... | Politruk |
 | Birol Ünel | ... | Politruk |
| Grigori Kofmann | ... | Politruk |
| Aleksei Nesterov | ... | Politruk (as Aleksej Nesterov) |
| Vladimir Vilanov | ... | Politruk |
| Aleksei Volodin | ... | Junior Politruk (as Alexeji Volodin) |
| Gennadi Tselbyansky | ... | Senior Politruk (as Gennadi Tselbiansky) |
| André Kaminski | ... | Russian Trench Officer (as Andrej Kaminski) |
| Michael Schenk | ... | Russian Officer |
| Jury Cooper | ... | Russian NCO |
| Manfred Witt | ... | Russian NCO |
| Arslan Kodirov | ... | Chechen Sniper / Sniper / Russian Officer |
| Axel Neumann | ... | Gaunt German Prisoner |
| Morin Smole | ... | Sniper |
| Inna Samain | ... | Sniper |
| Keta Burowa | ... | Female Russian Radio Operator |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Toby Cockerell | ... | Russian Sharpshooter (uncredited) |
| Eddy Joseph | ... | Voice on Tannoy (uncredited) (voice) |
| Martin Glyn Murray | ... | Narrator (voice) (uncredited) |
| Valentin Platareanu | ... | General Schmidt (uncredited) |
Original Music by | |||
| James Horner | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Robert Fraisse | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| Noëlle Boisson | |||
| Humphrey Dixon | |||
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