Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud - 2001 poster
The failure of the Nazis at Stalingrad during the winter of 1942-3 was one of the turning points in the defeat of Hitler in the Second World War. The movie is a fictionalised version of the sniper Vasily Zaitsev part in the siege and includes quite a compelling snipers' duel between Zaitsev and a Wehrmacht sniper school director, Major Erwin Kȍnig. A British military historian, Antony Beevor, having researched the Stalingrad conflict, believed that the Zaitsev story is fictional as no such event is mentioned in the detailed daily reports sent back to Moscow. No matter, the idea of a duel in the snow appeals.
Ed Harris as Major Erwin Kȍnig
I thought Ed Harris took the acting honours. His killing of the boy Sasha (who is double-crossing him by collecting information for his homeland) is shown as being cold-hearted but, in time of war, necessary. The image of the lad hanging in the background of the subsequent shoot-out with Zaitsev is chilling. I thought Joseph Fiennes as Commissar Danilov, struggling with his patriotism and near worship of his protegé Zaitsev and his growing jealousy of the latter's success with Tania Chernova (Rachel Weisz), was well portrayed. As Danilov says, Man will always be man. There is no new man. We tried so hard to create a society that was equal...but there is always something to envy.
Joseph Fiennes as Commissar Danilov
Ron Perlman also gave a realistic cameo at Koulikov (I loved his teeth!). Jude Law, as Zaitsev, didn't quite work for me. There is a certain effeminacy about him (which I saw in Mr. Ripley), which sat ill with the sharp-shooter and lover. I agree with some of the critics, who thought the romantic story was out of place. Rachel Weisz did what she could. As for Bob Hoskins as Nikita Khrushchev, whilst what one knows of the latter (his banging of his shoe at the U.N. etc.) stereotypes him as a thuggish peasant, Hopkins (in real life a lorry driver, plumber and window cleaner before becoming a thespian) was too much of caricature London low-lifer to convince. Pennies from Heaven made him and finished him! All the actors were failed by a pretty awful, mundane script. Too often the dialogue was cringeworthy and bordering on kindergarten level. The CGI (?) of the planes and city below was not up to scratch, either.
Jude Law as Zaitsev
There were some commendable moments: Danilov and Zaitsev hiding amongst dead bodies and the latter using his marksman's skill to kill a group of Germans so they could escape; the climbing through the huge metal pipes/shoots of an industrial complex to evade detection; the piece of glass revealing to Kȍnig not only Zaitsev's hiding place, but his dialogue with the nearby Tania; Kȍnig removing his cap just before Zaitsev shoots him.
Roger Ebert gave the movie 3* out of 4* and wrote that it is about two men placed in a situation where they have to try to use their intelligence and skills to kill each other. When Arnaud focuses on that, the movie works with rare concentration. The additional plot stuff and the romance are a kind of shame. The problem is that you would struggle to fills two hours' worth of film with just two men stalking each other. So, I rate it as an Average to Good film in the 50 Great War Films pantheon, let down by its script writer. I repeat, directors should not write the script!
2001 DVD
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