Enemy At The Gates

PLOT

A young Vasily Zaitsev is taught how to shoot a hunting rifle by his grandfather, in the Ural Mountains. Later, following the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Zaitsev is a soldier in the Red Army and is sent to the front line of the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942. Forced into a suicidal charge without a rifle, he hides while a tank shell incapacitates a car. The occupant, Commissar Danilov, hides among numerous bodies, coincidentally next to Vasily, who uses his exceptional marksmanship to kill the German soldiers nearby.

Nikita Khrushchev arrives in Stalingrad to coordinate the defence of the city and demands ideas from his subordinates on morale. Danilov, now a senior lieutenant, suggests that the people need "an example to follow" and give them hope. When Khrushchev asks if he knows any such men, Danilov recommends Zaitsev. Soon after, Danilov begins publishing heroic tales of Vasily's exploits in the army's newspaper.

Vasily is transferred to the sniper division and becomes friends with Danilov. Both also become romantically interested in Tania Chernova, a citizen of Stalingrad and private in the local militia. In fear for her safety, Danilov has her transferred away to an intelligence unit, ostensibly to make use of her German skills in translating radio intercepts.

With the Soviet snipers taking an increasing toll on the German forces, German Major Erwin König is deployed to kill Vasily and crush Soviet morale. A renowned marksman and head of the German Army sniper school at Zossen, he lures Vasily into a trap and kills two of his fellow snipers, but Vasily manages to escape. When the Red Army command learns of König's mission, they dispatch König's former student Koulikov to help Vasily kill him. König, however, outmaneuvers Koulikov and kills him, shaking Vasily's spirits. Khrushchev pressures Danilov to bring the sniper standoff to a conclusion.

Sasha, a young Soviet boy, volunteers to act as a double agent by passing König false information about Vasily's whereabouts. Vasily sets a trap for König and manages to wound him with help of Tania, who has come to rescue Vasily. During a second attempt, Vasily falls asleep, and his sniper log is stolen by a looting German soldier. The German command takes the log as evidence of Vasily's death and plans to send König home, but König does not believe that Vasily is dead.

The German general takes König's dog tags to prevent Soviet propaganda from profitting if König is killed. König also gives the general a War Merit Cross that was posthumously awarded to König's son, who was a lieutenant in the 116th Infantry Division and killed in the early days of the battle. König tells Sasha where he will be next, suspecting that the boy will tell Vasily. Tania and Vasily have meanwhile fallen in love. That night, Tania secretly goes to the Soviet barracks and makes love with Vasily. The jealous Danilov disparages Vasily in a letter to his superiors.

König spots Tania and Vasily waiting for him at his next ambush spot, confirming his suspicions about Sasha. He then kills the boy and hangs his body to bait Vasily. Vasily vows to kill König and sends Tania and Danilov to evacuate Sasha's mother. Tania is wounded by shrapnel en route to the boats.

Thinking she is dead, Danilov regrets his jealousy of Vasily and expresses disenchantment over his previous ardour for communism. Finding Vasily waiting to ambush König, Danilov intentionally exposes himself in order to provoke König into shooting him and revealing his position, sacrificing his life. Thinking that he has killed Vasily, König goes to inspect the body and is then in Vasily's sights.

Accepting his fate, König turns to face Vasily, who shoots him squarely in the eye and takes his rifle. Two months later, after Stalingrad has been liberated and German forces have surrendered, Vasily finds Tania recovering in a field hospital.

CAST

Jude Law as Vasily Zaitsev

Alexander Schwan as young Vasily

Joseph Fiennes as Commissar Danilov

Rachel Weisz as Tania Chernova

Bob Hoskins as Nikita Khrushchev

Ed Harris as Major Erwin König

Ron Perlman as Koulikov

Eva Mattes as Mother Filippova

Gabriel Marshall-Thomson as Sasha Filippov

Matthias Habich as General Friedrich Paulus

Sophie Rois as Ludmilla

Ivan Shvedoff as Volodya

Mario Bandi as Anton

Gennadi Vengerov as Starshina

Mikhail Matveyev as Grandfather

Clemens Schick as Voigt

Hans Martin Stier as General Prudius

Gennadi Vengerov as Kushnir

Robert Stadlober as Spotter

Holger Handtke as Baumann

Werner Daehn as Anosov

Birol Ünel as Kuklin

Valentin Platareanu as General Arthur Schmidt

Tom Wlaschiha as Soldier

Lenn Kudrjawizki as Comrade in Train

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

based on William Craig's 1973 nonfiction book Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad