 |
|
|
|
Tue. Apr. 3, 2001
|
|
|
Art & Culture > Movie &Theatre > Archive
|
|
|
|
|
|
Movie Review: Enemy At The Gates
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the last few years, there has been a recent surge in great war epics. Once again, World War II hits the big screens in the form of Enemy At The Gates, a brilliant war film set during the Battle of Stalingrad. Director Jean-Jacques Annaud creates a stunning visual masterpiece in a story about a duel between two soldiers, and one of these men's personal duel between love and war. Its setting and its recreation of this historic time period reflect intricate accuracy in depicting the graphic realities of war.
In the first scenes, we see Russian officers trying to persuade their infantry to go and fight their Nazi invaders. In the midst of bloodshed and bombs, the soldiers seem to be lost in the propaganda of the officers. Indeed, Russia is losing the battle, and a new strategy is needed to rebuild the morale and courage of its troops.
In another sequence, we see two lone Russian survivors, political officer Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) and Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law), some distance away from several German officers. Danilov quickly notices Vassili's talent as a sharp shooter and writes about him, creating a hero for Russian soldiers to look up to. The Russian propaganda machine also goes to work extolling the bravery and courage of this former shepherd by recounting the tale of every Nazi officer he kills. Vassili soon becomes the new hope of the Russian army, his fame reaching such great heights that Nazi officials begin to feel threatened by the lone sniper and send their best marksman, Major Konig (Ed Harris), on a specific mission to destroy him.
Their duel begins - we watch as an elaborate, heart pounding cat-and-mouse game ensues between the greatest sharpshooters that the two sides have to offer. The Nazis, virtually unstoppable before, are now demoralized. It is up to Major Konig to destroy Vassili and reenergize the Nazi onslaught of Russia.
Meanwhile, a love story is developing between Vassili and another sniper, Tania Chernova (Rachel Weisz). However, there is a problem - Danilov actually became interested in Tania first, but she goes after Vissili. The triangle creates tension in the strong friendship between the two men and in the love relationship.
Unable to accept that Vassili and Tania have fallen in love, Danilov attempts to destroy the hero that he has helped to create. His efforts come to a standstill, though, with the unfolding of events that cause him to act differently.
Enemy At The Gates is a brilliant war drama that well captures the essence of war. Since the Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles of World War II (a war in which as many as two million soldiers and civilians fell victim), any good film about it would have to graphically depict its psychological and physical horrors. Although Annaud is brilliant at directing the battle sequences, he somewhat falls short in conveying the same sense of horror that was illustrated by some other great war epics, such as Saving Private Ryan. The film's main focus is the one-on-one chess game between Vassili and Major Konig.
For that reason, I would not classify Enemy At The Gates as a true great war film. As well, it drags in some places, and fails to create in the audience a strong attachment to the hero and a strong resentment for the enemy, as one might expect of a standard war movie. Overall, though, Enemy At The Gates is exquisitely cinematic and a must see film. It is rated R for its vivid depiction of war, slight sexual content, and profanity.
|
|
|
 |
what is this?
This widget will help you to store, organize, search, and manage your favorite online content through a range of social bookmarking services. These services permit users to save links to websites that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, but can be saved privately, shared only with specified people or groups, or shared only inside certain networks. Authorized people can usually view these bookmarks chronologically, by category or tags, or through a search engine. Most social bookmarking services also permit their users to vote and rank public bookmarks to determine which are the best ones according to the number of votes they get.
|
 Send
content to your friend |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Contact Art & Culture
|
|
|
|
|
IslamOnline.net is not responsible for the content of external linked Web sites.
|
|
|
|
|
