Enemy at the Gates (2001)

Yep, my final viewing before the New Year deadline was of another war film. Set in Europe during World War II, no less. Fortunately for my sake, that's about where the similarity ends.

For one thing, EatG has a much more individual focus, specifically on real-life Soviet sniper Vasily Zaytsev (Jude Law). Commissar Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) notices his talent and writes about him in the news to increase morale on their side. It works, but the tradeoff for so much publicity -- a sticking point between the two friends -- is that the Germans know too much about Zaytsev and his whereabouts. Their own star sniper, Major Konig (Ed Harris), goes on a mission to take him down.

Also in the cast are Rachel Weisz as Tania, who has something of a love triangle with Zaytsev and Danilov; Bob Hoskins as Nikita Khrushchev; and Ron Perlman, a staple of director Jean-Jacques Annaud, as cocky experienced soldier Koulikov. It's pretty odd to hear Perlman, a New Yorker, speaking with what Americans take for a British accent. That was the only accent to stand out to me, but other viewers have noted actors like Law and Harris speaking with their usual accents, making no attempt to sound Russian or German. I'm fine with it, seeing as they weren't supposed to be speaking English anyway.

Of greater concern is how fast and loose the movie plays with the truth. We rather expect this from Hollywood, but the IMDb goofs page for EatG looks more extensive than usual, particularly in anachronisms and other factual errors. Admittedly, we have only so much certainty about what really happened: Zaytsev's own account is the only contemporary record of Konig even existing. I for one decided from an early scene, in which Zaytsev makes five kills in as many shots, that the filmmakers favored sensationalism over accuracy (the historical kind, not marksmanship).

The screening did not fare well in Germany, yet there seem to be more complaints from the Russian perspective. People think the Russian soldiers deserved a more flattering depiction. Funny, I had been wondering whether western audiences would complain about casting a Soviet as a hero, even if we'd rather root for them during that war.

Given the year of release, it makes sense that many viewers have thought of it as imitating Saving Private Ryan. This is most obvious in the gruesome battle toward the beginning. Mercifully, once the focus shifts to the slow pace of sniping, it's not so hard to watch -- tho you may care a bit more about the individuals who die one by one. Note that they include women and at least one child. If it makes you feel any better, they were involved in activities concerning the soldiers.

From a purely emotional standpoint, I found EatG fulfilling. It's almost fun in a dark way. I just have to caution you that it's very Hollywood, with all the exaggeration and outright falsity that that implies.