Enemy at the Gates
Enemy at the Gates | |
---|---|
Directed by | Jean-Jacques Annaud |
Written by | Jean-Jacques Annaud Alain Godard |
Based on | Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad by William Craig |
Produced by | Jean-Jacques Annaud |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Pathé Distribution (United Kingdom, Ireland and France) Constantin Film (Germany) Summit Entertainment (International)[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 131 minutes[2] |
Countries | United States United Kingdom France[3] Germany Ireland[4] |
Languages | English German Russian |
Budget | $68 million[5] |
Box office | $97 million[5] |
Enemy at the Gates (Stalingrad in France and L'Ennemi aux portes in Canada) is a 2001 war film directed, co-written, and produced by Jean-Jacques Annaud, based on William Craig's 1973 nonfiction book Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad, which describes the events surrounding the Battle of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942–1943.[6][7] The screenplay was written by Annaud and Alain Godard. The film's main character is a fictionalized version of Vasily Zaitsev, a sniper and Hero of the Soviet Union during World War II.[8][9] It includes a snipers' duel between Zaitsev and a Wehrmacht sniper school director, Major Erwin König.[10]
The cast includes
Plot
Nikita Khrushchev demands ideas from his subordinates on morale. While the other commissars suggest more severe discipline and terror, Danilov, now a senior lieutenant, recommends giving the troops inspiration. He suggests that they should "make examples, but examples to follow," and recommends Zaitsev for that role. Soon after, Danilov begins publishing heroic tales of Vassili's exploits in the army's newspaper. Vassili is transferred to the sniper division and becomes friends with Danilov. Both also become romantically interested in Tania Chernova, a private in the local militia. In fear for her safety, Danilov has her transferred away to an intelligence unit, ostensibly to make use of her German skills in translating radio intercepts.
With the Soviet snipers taking an increasing toll on the German forces, German Major Erwin König is deployed to kill Vassili and crush Soviet morale. When the Red Army command learns of König's mission, they dispatch König's former student Koulikov to help Vassili kill him. König, however, outmaneuvers Koulikov and kills him, shaking Vassili's spirits. Khrushchev pressures Danilov to bring the sniper standoff to a conclusion. Sacha Filipov, a young Soviet boy, volunteers to act as a double agent by passing König false information about Vassili's whereabouts. Vassili sets a trap for König and manages to wound him with the help of Tania, who has come to rescue Vassili. During a second attempt, Vassili falls asleep, and his sniper log is stolen by a looting German soldier. The German command take the log as evidence of Vassili's death and plans to send König home, but König does not believe that Vassili is dead.
General
König spots Tania and Vassili waiting for him at his next ambush spot, confirming his suspicions about Sacha. He then kills the boy and hangs his body to bait Vassili. Vassili vows to kill König and sends Tania and Danilov to evacuate Sacha's mother. Tania is wounded by shrapnel en route to the boats. Thinking she is dead, Danilov regrets his jealousy of Vassili and even his ardor for communist ideals begins to falter. Finding Vassili waiting to ambush König, Danilov intentionally exposes himself in order to provoke König into shooting him and revealing his own position. Thinking that he has killed Vassili, König goes to inspect the body only to find himself in the Russian's sights. Accepting his fate, König grimly turns to look Vassili in the face before being shot. Two months later, after Stalingrad has been liberated and German forces have surrendered, Vassili finds Tania recovering in a field hospital.
Cast
- Jude Law as Vassili
- Joseph Fiennes as Danilov
- Rachel Weisz as Tania
- Bob Hoskins as Khrushchev
- Ed Harris as Major König
- Ron Perlman as Koulikov
- Eva Mattes as Mother Filipov
- Gabriel Thomson as Sacha (as Gabriel Marshall-Thomson)
- Matthias Habich as General Paulus
Production
The filming of Enemy at the Gates took place in Germany. The crossing of the
Soundtrack
The soundtrack to Enemy at the Gates was written by James Horner and released on 31 March 2001.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The River Crossing to Stalingrad" | 15:13 |
2. | "The Hunter Becomes the Hunted" | 5:53 |
3. | "Vassili's Fame Spreads" | 3:40 |
4. | "Koulikov" | 5:13 |
5. | "The Dream" | 2:35 |
6. | "Bitter News" | 2:38 |
7. | "The Tractor Factory" | 6:43 |
8. | "A Sniper's War" | 3:25 |
9. | "Sacha's Risk" | 5:37 |
10. | "Betrayal" | 11:28 |
11. | "Danilov's Confession" | 7:13 |
12. | "Tania (End Credits)" | 6:53 |
Total length: | 76:31[14] |
Reception
On
Military historian David R. Stone praised the cast and said the film is "a good thing for the study of the Eastern Front during World War II" but criticized its historical inaccuracies and presentation, concluding: "To end on a brighter note, Enemy at the Gates has at the very least boosted the number of my students who drop by the office to ask questions about Stalingrad. I only wish it had done a better job of giving them good answers."[11] For the Society for Military History, historian Roger Reese wrote: "As a work of fictionalized history this movie serves a useful purpose beyond entertainment, that of bringing to the attention of movie-goers in the West the sacrifices Soviet soldiers made in defending their country and defeating Hitler and giving a face to those legions still largely anonymous to us."[9]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four and wrote that it "is about two men placed in a situation where they have to try to use their intelligence and skills to kill each other. When Annaud focuses on that, the movie works with rare concentration. The additional plot stuff and the romance are kind of a shame."[19] New York's Peter Ranier was less kind, declaring: "It's as if an obsessed film nut had decided to collect every bad war-film convention on one computer and program it to spit out a script."[20] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone admitted the film had faults but said that "any flaws in execution pale against those moments when the film brings history to vital life."[21]
The film received unenthusiastic reviews in Russia but had good box office in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Some
Historical accuracy
As a film inspired by real events, it was dramatized and the plot was fictional in several ways.
The film misrepresents the role of
The film's first scene shows new Soviet troops, including Zaitsev, arriving at the Stalingrad front, being screamed at, threatened, and in general humiliated by their commanders. They are then transported and locked in crowded boxcars to stop them from deserting. According to military historian
See also
References
- ^ Goodridge, Mike (17 December 2001). "Summit, Mandalay extend relationship till 2004". Screen International. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
- ^ "Enemy at the Gates (2001)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ^ "Enemy at the Gates (2001)". Unifrance. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
- ^ "British Film Institute: Enemy at the Gates (2001)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ a b "Enemy at the Gates". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
- ^ a b "Under fire: Does Enemy at the Gates take liberties with history?". The Guardian. 15 March 2001. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ "Interview mit Jean-Jacques Annaud" [Interview with Jean-Jacques Annaud, referenced by Constantin Film]. Epilog.de (in German). Archived from the original on 18 August 2007.
- ^ "Biografiya: Vasiliy Zaytsev" Биография: Василий Зайцев [Biography: Vasily Zaitsev]. Heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia (in Russian). Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Reese, Roger (2014). "Review: Enemy at the Gates". Society for Military History. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ a b c Malhotra, Noor (1 August 2022). "Is Enemy at the Gates a True Story?". The Cinemaholic. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ a b c Stone, David R. (June 2002). "Review of Enemy at the Gates". H-Net. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ "Enemy at the Gates". Cinema Review. Archived from the original on 1 March 2005. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ^ "'Duell': Wer weiß in Japan, wo Stalingrad liegt?". Die Welt (in German). 9 March 2001. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
- ^ "Enemy at the Gates Soundtrack". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
- Fandango. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Timofeychev, Alexey (4 February 2019). "'Enemy at the Gates' – How accurately was the Battle of Stalingrad portrayed in the film?". Russia Beyond. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ "Enemy at the Gates: Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ "Home". CinemaScore. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (16 March 2001). "Enemy At The Gates". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ Rainer, Peter (26 March 2001). "Is War Hell, Or What?". New York. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ Travers, Peter (16 March 2001). "Enemy at the Gates | Movie Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 18 March 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ "Stalingrad veterans demand ban of Enemy at the Gates". Lenta.ru. 8 March 2001. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
- ^ "Veterans upset by Western move on Stalingrad". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. 10 May 2001. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
- ^ "Allesfilm.com – all about film". Allesfilm.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
- ^ "Filmspiegel – Filme & Kritiken". Dilmspiegel (in German). Archived from the original on 16 August 2002. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- ^ "Duell – Enemy at the Gates". Filmszene (in German). 20 August 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
- ^ "Jean-Jacques Annaud: 'Töten ist nie lustig'". Der Spiegel (in German). 7 February 2001. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ^ Dreier, Harriet (8 February 2001). "Berlinale-Eröffnung: Buhrufe statt Prominenz". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ^ a b Nieuwint, Joris (25 September 2015). "The Many Movie Mistakes Of Enemy At The Gates". War History Online. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
External links
- Enemy at the Gates at IMDb
- Enemy at the Gates at the better source needed]
- Enemy at the Gates at AllMovie
- Enemy at the Gates at Rotten Tomatoes
- Enemy at the Gates at Metacritic
- Enemy at the Gates at Box Office Mojo