Enemy At the Gates

Good

If anyone ever does a picture about Khruschev, Bob Hoskins must play the lead role. And it wouldn't be typecasting either, because he only shows up for a total of, say, ten minutes in this film as Khruschev in his Stalingrad position as the senior Political Comissar. (What, you ask, is a Political Commissar? Read on.)This was a much sweeter assignment,apparently, for Nikita Sergeievich than his previous one, which was to surrender Kiev.But back to Mr. Hoskins. This, my friends, is acting. Never mind the make up job that turns the star of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mona Lisa, and the Cotton Club into the star of the Cuban Missile Crisis and The Secret Meeting About Stalin. Never mind the set-up by excited crowds whispering about "Stalin's envoy" (didn't they know he'd surrendered Kiev?). In one sweeping scene, Hoskins manages to convey Khruschevian brutality (throwing a pistol at his predecessor with a gruff, "You might want to avoid the red tape"), fearmongering contempuousness as he slowly inspects the political officers, and his propensity for odd witticisms: "I want our boys to stop [expletive connotating defecation] their pants." "This isn't Leningrad. It isn't Moscow. This is Stalingrad. This city bears the name of [leans into trembling officers face ominously] the boss." Does he raise his voice? No, he doesn't have to.Then we see him shift, chameleon like, in response to a suggestion an officer Danilov gives when Khruschev demands one. "Hope. They need hope." When Danilov tells Khruschev that yes, he knows a hero who can provide such hope, a sharpshooter who was able to kill five Germans one right after the other in order to save the officer and himself, a smile literally creeps across the senior officer's face. It's clear he's decided this is information he can use.Brilliant performance. Five minutes to show emotions and characteristics that run the gamut with a character who's been diagnosed posthumously as being something less than mentally balanced. Mr. Hoskins, I salute you! Jude Law does well too, although he's a young'n here with room to grow."Enemy At the Gates" tells us,on one level, about one of the most brutal battles of The Great Patriotic War. But the main character in this story isn't the people of Stalingrad or the Soviet army, it's a rifleman named Vassili Zaitzev (a real guy, apparently, who has his own monument someplace) who is touted as an expert marksman after killing the five Germans Danilev mentioned above. The information about this, as a result of the Commissar's little machine, gets out all over the USSR, and before you can say "Nastrovye!", Vassili is like a Soviet Frank Sinatra, getting fan male from Minsk to Pinsk. No dummy, Vassili realizes quickly he's being used, and protests. To no avail, however. Khruschev and Danilov are not above putting the child of a friend in mortal danger to continue the sniper exploits and the positive press they bring.So, apparently, this is what Political Comissars do: they run around creating and putting out propoganda about the great work other people are doing while these other people actually do the work, perhaps even risking their lives.(The scary thing is, given Stalingrad's remarkable victory, its Comissars' propoganda may have actually done some good.) Danilov et al, in the film, continue to use Vassili as agitprop to spruce up morale among soldiers and citizens alike. In an art-meets-reality spin, Annaud himself creats a final duel between Zaitzev and his German counterpart in the film that never occurred.Annaud's theme of someone just trying to do their job, only to have someone else exploit it for the good of "the collective", with sometimes tragic results, could be reflective of a minor scale of a certain seventy year experiment with a nation full of workers. Or, arguably, of the perceived need in any conflict for the folks on the home front to believe their boys are doing well.And historically inaccurate though it may be, the sniper duel scene pretty much rocks the free world. Or the Communist world. Whatever.

I thought I already had this movie my collection, but it was only digital download but for great price I’ve been add it to my Bluey collection. Thanks a lot.

Got this for my husband. He really likes this show which is a war movie, but also a love story.

Great story

I really thought the cast and crew did a wonderful job in making this film. The opening scenes are enough to make you aware of how really bad the situation was in the Soviet Union shortly after the German invasion. did the film makers exaggerate? I think not as much as the traditional writeup would lead us to believe. I thought Bob Hoskins playing Khruchov conveyed a harshness in dealing with army officers and the situation as a whole that seemed very Russian (and Ukrainian) to me. In writing the characters of Zaitsev, the university trained local girl and the political worker the film makers cought much of what I would consider legitimate character types of that era. Ron Pearlman is great and what he has to say about Soviet-German relations before the outbreak of war is worth listening to.Stalin virtually destroyed the Soviet military during the 30s. Some viewers did not like the romance as part of tthe movie. Conducting a major battle in an urban area means interaction between military and civilian personnel. So the local little boy played a very dangerous game going between Soviet and German units, so young men and women will snatch bits of time for love and sex. You will find romance in the best of Soviet war related fiction. This whole film reminds me so much of Konstantine Siminov's Dni i Nochi or though it deals with the Civil War, M. Sholokhov's Tixii Don. I spent years of my academic career reading Soviet literature, many trips there including Volgagrad. I spent hours in the historical museum, probably saw Zaitsev's gun. For a 67 year old lady I really thought they cought many of the key points on the event.

Based on the book, War of the Rats, Enemy at the Gates is well done and does a good job of showing a side of WWII most Amercians know very little about!

An interesting film for the Nagant Revolver or Mosin Nagant collector. They are everywhere in this film !Although this film is successful in having the viewer rooting for the Russian Sniper, Vassili, overall I had very mixed feelings. The immediate characters are well constructed, and we care for them. Yet when it comes right down to it, both sides of this conflict, Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany, were deplorable constructs. Rather than have either win, it would be preferable both should lose.I enjoyed seeing Nikita Krushshev as a character. From what I know of him, he was accurately portrayed here. Shrewd, tough, ruthless, but no Sociopath, as Stalin and Hitler both clearly were. The Additonal Scenes are particularly good at fleshing out his character. They should not have been cut from the Theatrical Release.The cruelty of Russian Political Correctness is evident throughout. Saying the wrong thing or having the wrong attitude is punished severely. Vassili grew up on a farm, where they needed to hunt for food, and needed to protect livestock from wolves. But when the Commissars discovered his Grandfather kept a rifle for this purpose, he was taken away, never to be seen again. The Cult of Personality is also shown; enormous portraits and statues of Stalin litter the landscape. Excuse me for stating I see some stark parallels to our modern day USA, where our Speech is strictly monitored, our Right to Bear Arms is under constant assault, and we have elevated a Community Organizer as our new God.