Enemy at the Gates DVD Review Page Three
Enemy at the Gates is a heavy-handed movie, and anyone expecting subtlety will be disappointed. But I see this film as spectacle, and viewed that way, it works well. The huge battle scenes are absolutely terrific, and the sniper scenes in a department store and a chemical factory are gripping. Also, when larger-than-life characters get to make speeches -- like when Bob Hoskins as Nikita Khrushchev says, "Vodka is a luxury we have. Caviar is a luxury we have. Time is not." -- it's great stuff.
It's too bad, though, that Enemy at the Gates isn't really successful at balancing its grandiose scenes with intimate moments when we get to know two or three of the individual characters better. It seems to me that all the raw materials were present in this movie for me to be exhilarated at some moments and deeply saddened at others, but this didn't happen because the human dimension to the story is largely missing. In particular, even though Jude Law is a good actor, his character Vassili Zaitsev is written in such a way that he doesn't evoke much of an emotional response. I can't help comparing Law's Vassili with Gary Cooper's portrayal of the title character in Sergeant York, and it seems to me that Cooper's York comes off as the more heroic figure by far.
It may be a little impolite of me, but perhaps I should say something about the language conventions used in Enemy at the Gates. Since the film is aimed at English-speaking audiences, it's not surprising that all the Russians always speak in English. However, the Russians print and write in Russian, so if it's important for English-speakers to know what's printed or written, English subtitles are used. This treatment of the Russian characters isn't too strange, but it seems very peculiar to me that the Germans speak in German, unless it's important for English-speakers to know what they're saying, in which case they speak in English! It's possible that the conventions chosen were the best way of dealing with the language problems posed by this movie, but I sometimes found this a little jarring.
I would say that Enemy at the Gates is a good, but not a great, movie. During the film's combat scenes and the duel between Vassili and Konig, it's very good indeed. But when it tries to show the conflicted friendship between Vassili and Danilov or the romantic relationship between Vassily and Tania, the movie falters. Still, I recommend Enemy at the Gates as a good chance to learn a little about history and be entertained at the same time.
Selected Special Features on the DVD:
- Documentary: "Inside Enemy at the Gates"
- Documentary: "Through the Crosshairs"
- Additional Scenes (9)
- Theatrical Trailer
Formats Available:
The above information refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.
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