Gold Coast Weekend (Bulletin)
28 - 29 July 2001
By Josh Chetwynd

Stars: Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Bob Hoskins
Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud
Censorship Classification MA (which in Oz means 15+)
Running time 144 minutes.
Rating 8/10.

Jean-Jacques Annaud's Enemy at the Gates is a happy marriage of modern realism in war movies as seen at its best in Saving Private Ryan and good old-fashion romanticism.

While Pearl Harbour gave film-goers love and bombardment, with mixed results as audiences weren't too impressed even in flag-waving America, Enemy at the Gates makes for a better and integrated blend.

This time around the historic backdrop is the Battle for Stalingrad, waged in 1942-43, and although there's not a Yank in sight, most historians credit the conflict with being a defining period in the war.

The Russian Front was among the most harsh for both the German and Russian armies, but for Annaud it's a mere entree to a classic Hollywood war theme as 2 top snipers pit their individual skills against one another.

Then there's the classic love triangle as the hero and his buddy - whoops that should read comrade - fall out over the love of a good woman.

The Oscar-nominated star of The Talented Mr. Ripply, Jude Law, plays real-life Soviet hero Vassili Zaitsev, who became a symbol of hope during Russia's darkest hour.

Zaitsev was no Errol Flynn or John Mills but rather a real-life Audie Murphy type who became so famous as a sniper, the Germans introduced their own star performer, German aristocrate Major Konig (Ed Harris), into the fray.

These 2 are the traditional hero and nemesis, but there's more with the addition of love interest and of course, active soldier Tania (The Return of the Mummy's Rachel Weisz), who is also being chased by jealous intelligence officer Danilov (Joseph Fiennes).

Fiennes, despite success in Shakespeare in Love and Elizabeth, has a definite flair for arrogance, unpleasantness and motives of self-interest as shown in the role of Danilov.

When Russian political heavy and vulgar comic relief Nikita Kruschev (Bob Hoskins - with his trademark cockney accent?) arrives on the scene, Danilov is quick to point out Vassilis's propaganda value.

In the tradition of American western heroes from The Lone Ranger to The Man With No Name, and beyond, Vassili does what a man's gotta do with Danilov offering socialist platitudes from the rear.

When Tania comes on the scene, however, it seems that everything is fair in love and war as Danilov attempts to persuade her that they are different from the common herd such as Vassili.

Guess who falls in love with whom as our hero continues his battle of wits and dodges whizzing bullets from the steely-eyed Major Konig.

Enemy at the Gatesis packed with good performances including an earthy, humoured sidekick for Vassili played by Ron Perlman (The Name of The Rose) and Gabriel Marshall-Thomson as the vulnerable little boy spy Sacha. Director Annaud, who co-wrote the movie with Alain Godard, has taken these performances and a compelling story and given them a stunning visual veneer. When the film opens, we see the debilitated Russian army preparing to cross the Volga River and square-up against the formidable Germany army in what could be a last stand.

The scenery, which was shot with East Germany as a backdrop, was created from the ground up in one of the most remarkable reconstructions to be seen on the screen this year.

It took five months to recreate Stalingrad's famous Red Square, a massive set featuring exteriors of the Pravda printing press, the Gorky Theatre, the Univermag department store and Stalingrad's famous fountain in the middle of the square.

This is where Annaud has 600 extras depict the evacuation of war-torn Stalinggrad in a scene which does not quite have the white-knuckle authenticity of Private Ryan, but grips all the same.

The young technocrats have the Final Fantasy and the twenty and thirtysomethings have Bridget Jones's Diary, but here's one for those of all ages who simply love a good-looking movie with powerful characters and a strong human-driven story.