Enemy at the Gates (2001)

Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. Starring Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Ed Harris, Bob Hoskins, Ron Perlman, Gabriel Marshall-Thomson, Eva Mattes, Matthias Habich, Sophie Rois, Ivan Shvedoff. [R]

During the months-long Battle of Stalingrad, enemy snipers Vasily Zaitsev (Law) and Major König (Harris) engage in deadly cat-and-mouse games throughout the debris-strewn city ruins, while political officer Danilov (Fiennes) uses Zaitsev’s heroism as propaganda for the Russian resistance effort. There’s also a love triangle involving Zaitsev, Danilov, and local militia freedom fighter Tania (Weisz), but those scenes are a mixed bag (one soppy exchange finds lovers waxing sweetly about how they both snore like pigs); the film is at its best when focusing on the nail-biting hunt. The elaborate engagements and the opening battle scene, as spectacular as it is harrowing, provide director Annaud a chance to bring harsh visual glamour to chaos and cruelty; it’s a meaty and devastated production, evocatively photographed and suspensefully cut, though some edits result in moments of confusion and plot holes. The actors do fine work, but it’s a bit glaring that the accents rarely reflect their Russian/German roots. James Horner provides the bombastically ominous score; some sections are distractingly reminiscent of John William’s main theme for Schindler’s List.

78/100