In this world there will always be rich and poor, talents and talentless, lovers and lonely people. Generally, recently, I wanted to watch as many American films about the war as possible, since I have not seen them so much. Russian and Soviet are full, and American, or just foreign, on the fingers to count. Yesterday I watched the absolutely wonderful film The Thin Red Line, but today I decided Enemy at the Gate. What attracted me to this movie? It's very simple because the Americans made a film about us, the Russians. I don’t know what, but it’s something.
1942, the height of the Battle of Stalingrad. The German command sends its best shooter, Major Koenig, to the front with a special task. This experienced and patient professional is the only one who can try to cope with the Russian “angel of death” – the elusive sniper Vasily Zaitsev. Zaitsev is a legend and icon for the defenders of Stalingrad. Every day he carries out the death sentence to dozens of invaders caught in the crosshairs of his sights. Between two unique snipers begins a deadly fight, the winner of which will be destined to come out only one.
What is the most interesting thing about war when it is shown on the screen? I’m sure 9 out of 10 will say that the most interesting battles are battles, like the final battle in Saving Private Ryan, or the very first landing on Normandy. Or you can remember the second half of the film “Letters from Iwo Jima”. The rest in military films for the viewer is divided by only 10%. Well, for me personally, the most interesting thing in military films is sniper duels, and given that such films are not released so often, then every such product is a holiday for me, even if it is not of the first class.
The film is pretty average. Of course, all the wisdom of sniper combat is shown very accurately and excitingly, but, unfortunately, the rest of the film is godlessly losing. It's empty. It's completely empty. During the viewing there was a feeling that all the troops, including Hitler and Stalin, gathered somewhere in the stands and watched only the sniper duel Zaitsev and Koenig. Just like in ancient times, when the winner in a war was determined by the fight of the two strongest fighters.
But that's not true. If there was any semblance of realism at the beginning of the film, then by the end, and even by the middle of the film, it disappeared without a trace, because of which, as I said, the film became completely empty.
But still we must pay tribute to the Americans, because they still, despite the fact that they did not show the war, showed us all the heroism and psychology of the winner of our hero Vasily Zaitsev. It seems to reliably show his inner experiences, his love for Tanya, which, I think, was completely superfluous in this film. I mean the storyline about his lover, which sometimes slid to the level of banal melodrama, rather than a harsh war film. Of course, this is not the ideal of showing the psychology of one individual fighter, as it was, for example, in our wonderful film “The Ballad of a Soldier”, but still it is shown here quite realistically.
I have another problem with the actors. Of course, as actors, I really like both Jude Law and Ed Harris, but unfortunately they don’t look very similar to either Russians or Germans. From this, the film, of course, loses a fair share of pathos, but loses in sensation. If the Americans are making a film about the Great Patriotic War, then they should also have the appropriate actors, that is, a Russian and a German. I think the most ideal candidates for this steering wheel are Vladimir Mashkov and Thiel Schweiger. Mashkov was already in the role of a sniper in the film “In the rear of the enemy”, which was American, so this role he would fit perfectly. Til Schweiger plays the German sniper. Of course, he is not as formidable as Ed Harris, but still he is German. The film wins in spectacle, but loses in realism. Since the film is about Russians, and we must honor our history, it means that we should not be very willing to accept such scrupulous pictures in which the whole war is reduced to a sniper duel, and as if there is nothing besides her and the constantly screaming Khrushchev, played by a completely ridiculous actor. The film is spectacular, but empty. And since I watched the movie mostly because of the sniper duel, and it came out great, so I liked the movie.
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