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While Enemy at the Gates (2001) is an entertaining movie portrayed as factual, it should be viewed as nothing more than a damn good fictional war film. William Craig's book, "Enemy at the Gates" (1973) provides the basic plot and the main characters for the movie such as Lieutenant Vasily Zaitsev (Jude Law), Tania Chernova (Rachel Weisz), Commisar Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), Major König (Ed Harris) Nikita Khrushchev (Bob Hoskins), and Sacha Filipov (Gabriel Thomson). The story centers on Lieutenant Zaitsev, the leading figure among the Soviet snipers, who prowls the ruins of Stalingrad spreading fear among the Germans. Looking for hero stories to bolster the morale of war-weary Soviet citizens, Commisar Igor Danilov, a Russian officer and journalist, writes articles about Vasha's phenomenal results. A skilled hunter who had learned stealth and marksmanship hunting deer near his home in the Ural Mountains, Lieutenant Zaitsev is trumpeted as a hero by the Soviet press. While William Craig is a compelling writer with an eye for detail, he is not particularly skeptical of his sources. In his book of the sniper duel, Craig takes Stalinist propaganda at face value. There is no single source outside of Soviet propaganda for even the existence of the German super sniper. Instead, the author took the propaganda built around Zaitsev's kills as a sniper and presented these as truths that were finally made into this film as allegedly a true story. This story is a rather improbable legend that has been built around Zaitsev's exploits. The legend holds that the publicity arising from his shooting skills prompted the Germans to send a super sniper of their own to kill him. According to William Craig, this man was Major König. Others claim he was SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Heinz Thorwald. In either event, this story does not seem to be supported by either German or Soviet archives. Reports concerning sniper actions by the 62nd Army contain no mention of this classic German legend. Furthermore, German muster rolls from both the Wehrmacht and SS reveal no officer by the name of König or Thorwald was posted to Stalingrad. In all probability, William Craig's account was a mere fabrication of some apparatchik in the Soviet propaganda bureau. The film also created the notion that the Stalingrad campaign was run by Nikita Khrushchev. Bob Hoskins does quite well at portraying Khrushchev in all his warty peasant earthiness, but Khrushchev was simply not the essential figure at Stalingrad that the film portrays him as such. It was General Vasily Chuikov who controlled the 62nd Army. Khrushchev, as a local party leader, was coordinating the defense of Ukraine, but was dismissed and recalled to Moscow after surrendering Kiev. Later, he was a political commissar at the Battle of Stalingrad and was the senior political officer in the south of the Soviet Union. In addition, the Russian snipers actually contributed very little in the overall battle of Stalingrad especially when one considers that the total casualties for both sides are estimated to be about two million. Despite the numerous historical errors in this movie, Lieutenant Zaitsev did make worthy contributions among snipers at the Battle of Stalingrad. In fact, he did single-handedly shoot over 100 German soldiers before his career was ended in January of 1943 following a land mine explosion that left him permanently blinded. The film also leaves one with the impression that when the Russians were evacuating the city across the Volga river, that the Germans were poised for victory. The movie then cuts to the next scene where somehow the Germans lost offering no context or explanation for this sudden change in fortune. In reality, this change came about because of large Russian counterattacks on an overextended German line, but the movie encourages the viewer to believe that the battle was decided by Russian snipers. However, with the German 6th Army in control of 90 percent of Stalingrad, it was General Chuikov and his army that struggled to maintain its precarious foothold that eventually dissolved the German military machine at a snail's pace. Their backs to the Volga, the Russians contested the sewers of the city. Prolonged street fighting, confusion, and chaos among the utter ruin of Stalingrad had reduced all men to a primitive level of existence in a war that the Germans commonly referred to as "Rattenkrieg" – War of the Rats. Another glaring mistake is noted when Commisar Danilov is explaining to Zaitsev that he is on the front-page of an army newspaper that will be reprinted in the Crimea. The Republic of Crimea was then completely controlled by the German army. In summary, Enemy at the Gates (2001) is a carefully crafted movie with solid acting, a touch of romance, and very realistic battle scenes that work well in a suspenseful but fictitious war film that most audiences will enjoy. email this review to a friend
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