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 talingrad
1942 - Hitler makes a serious mistake when he sends troops into Russia, a
country that had entered a non-aggression pact with the Nazis. Hitler's
forces were decimated in one of the most fierce and bloody battles in
human history.Enter Vasily Zaitsev, the famous Soviet sniper hero of the Second World War. Zaitsev, played by Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley) is a young Russian shepherd who joins the Red army and becomes one of their best and deadliest sharpshooters, credited with single handedly killing more than 140 German soldiers in less than 10 days during the Battle of Stalingrad. A savvy Soviet propagandist, Ivan Danilov (Joseph Fiennes, Shakespeare in Love), is quick to befriend Zaitsev and turns him into a legend for his own propaganda campaign. Their friendship is put to the test when both men fall in love with the beautiful female sniper Tania, played by Rachel Weisz (The Mummy). |
actors Jude Law Ed Harris Joseph Fiennes Rachel Weisz director location |
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Meantime the Germans, in an effort to
boost morale, send in one of their best - elite marksman Major Konig,
played by Ed Harris
(The Truman Show).
Konig's mission is simple: hunt down and eliminate Zaitsev. The inevitable happens - Zaitsev and Konig end up locked in a duel to the death amidst the city's ruins - stalking each other in a deadly cat-and-mouse game that lasts for several days. Enemy at the Gates is inspired by William Craig's 1973 book of the same name. The book is a collection of interviews with real life survivors on both sides of the battle that finally turned the tide for the allies in World War II. This war epic was filmed on location in Russia and also at the legendary Babelsburg studios just outside Berlin, where Fritz Lang shot Metropolis and Marlene Dietrich starred in The Blue Angel. Nearby, the village of Krampnitz still provides ruined Red Army barracks and crumbling concrete, the perfect backdrop for recreating war-torn Stalingrad. Says director Jean-Jacques Annaud, "We have everything we need here. The old Russian barracks, the old factories that were built according to the Russian model, all close to Berlin and with a modern infrastructure." Starring major hunks in the leading roles, the action on set was always exciting. Annaud, who also directed Brad Pitt in Seven Years In Tibet, was quoted as saying, "It's interesting to film a movie with such exquisitely polite and good looking men. I got the feeling that women were falling for these guys wherever we went." Sexy Jude Law, named after the famous Beatles song "Hey Jude", is one of the hottest young actors working today. Last year he got an Oscar nomination for his remarkable portrayal of arrogant playboy Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr. Ripley. In Enemy at the Gates, he's joined by other powerful actors like Fiennes, Harris, Bob Hoskins and Weisz to portray a powerful story of love, friendship and survival, human drama at its best. - Brigitte Berman |