Enemy at the Gates (5 Stars)

This film is based on the Russian World War Two hero Vasily Zaytsev. A lot happens in the film, and if it weren't for the dates of key occurrences flashing on the screen we wouldn't realise that the film only covers a two month period, from September to November 1942.

Vasily came from a poor peasant family. As a child he was taught how to hunt by his grandfather. In 1942 he was sent to Stalingrad as one of many soldiers, but it became immediately obvious that he was exceptionally skilled as a marksman. He ignored the normal German soldiers and specialised in killing German officers. He was made the leader of a newly created sniper division in which he was able to pass on his skills to other soldiers. He didn't teach anyone how to shoot -- only the best marksmen were allowed to join his division -- he taught them his tactics, how to hide, which targets to shoot, which to let live.

When I saw this in the cinema in 2001 I was in awe. It's like no other war film I've ever seen. There's no glory. There's no honour. It's just two armies, the Russian and the German, desperately fighting for the heap of bricks that are all that's left of a once mighty city. Even the integrity of the sniper at the centre of the story can be questioned. It's been said that snipers are the most cowardly of all soldiers. A sniper doesn't stand up and fight man to man, he hides in the shadows and kills opponents who have no chance to fight back.

In 1942 Germany already had the upper hand in Stalingrad. It looked like the Russian forces would be driven back towards Moscow. This one man, Vasily Zaytsev, was instrumental in halting the German attack. According to the official figures he killed 257 Germans in three months.

I can't think of any other film in which Jude Law acts so magnificently. As Vasily Zaytsev he's young and nervous, only gaining his calm when a rifle is in his hands. We feel for him, we urge him on in his battles.

Ed Harris, on the other hand, is a wonderful actor in every film he appears in. This is just one of many brilliant performances in his long acting career. He plays Major König, a German sniper sent to Stalingrad to take out Vasily. The battle between the two is nothing like the fast moving action films that we see every week in the cinema. It's a battle of wits. The two men stalk one another, both trying to remain invisible, hiding for hours waiting to make one single shot.

The battle of the two snipers is just as ugly as the town that serves as their battleground. They have to crawl through the mud and hide among piles of corpses.

This is a highly underrated film. Why don't more people like it? Maybe it's because the film's hero is a Russian? We shouldn't let ourselves be biased by modern day politics. A good film is a good film, whoever the film's heroes are. If you've never seen this film, watch it and tell me what your immediate impressions are when the credits roll.

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