Enemy at the Gates

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Enemy at the Gates ★★ 2000 (R)

World War II saga set during the siege of Stalingrad in 1942 as Russian sniper Zaitsev (Law) tracks his equal in German sniper Konig (Harris). Law is also involved in a romantic triangle with a female Russian soldier (Weisz) and smarmy commissar Danilov (Fiennes). Only the sniper story is based on actual events and real people, from William Craig's historical account. Otherwise, the story as put on screen leaves out a lot, namely any real exploration of either the German or the Russian social and political stances of the time. We're left with good-looking men shooting it out in front of dramatic scenery, and a World War ll lacking historical commentary. 131m/C VHS, DVD . GE GB IR US Jude Law, Ed Harris, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Bob Hoskins, Gabriel Marshall-Thomson, Eva Mattes, Ron Perlman, Matthias Habich; D: Jean-Jacques Annaud; W: Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard; C: Robert Fraisse; M: James Horner.