Enemy at the Gates: Blu-ray Movie Review (2009)

Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, written by Annaud and Alain Godard, 131 minutes, rated R.

Jean-Jacques Annaud’s great-looking World War II movie, “Enemy at the Gates,” now out on Blu-ray disc, is so disinterested in its characters, it should have been called “Enigma at the Gates.”

Working from a script he co-wrote with Alain Godard, Annaud offers audiences a sometimes harrowing depiction of the Battle of Stalingrad. But since he’s more interested in capturing the guts and glitz of war than he is in keeping his characters out of the murky trenches of stereotype, his film ultimately lacks the soul and narrative pull it needed to succeed.

The film loosely follows the real-life story of Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law), a crack shot shepherd from the Ural Mountains who is sent to the frontlines of Stalingrad, somehow survives a ferocious battle against German troops, and then meets--atop a pile of rotting corpses--the Russian political officer who will forever change his life.

On orders from Nikita Kruschev (Bob Hoskins), the officer, Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), is in need of a hero who will inspire and give hope to the exhausted Russian troops. Choosing Vassili, Danilov turns the man’s unprecedented marksmanship and bravery into fodder for front-page news and radio propaganda.

Realizing that it’s just this sort of inspiration that can turn the tide of a war, the Germans send in their own sniper (Ed Harris) to eliminate Vassili. The result is a film less interested in the Battle of Stalingrad than it is in becoming a game of cat-and-mouse between two gifted marksmen we never come to know.

Grade: C

Features:
Through The Crosshairs
Inside Enemy At The Gates
Deleted Scenes
Theatrical Trailer