A 'beautiful' war film on Amazon Prime right now that works on these 'three levels'

A "beautiful" war film is streaming on Amazon Prime right now and people say it works on "multiple levels". Enemy at the Gates charts the horrific seige of Stalingrad in 1942, a conflict that was fiercely fought between the invading forces of Nazi Germany and the defending Soviet troops attempting to save their city. Released in 2001, the movie stars Jude Law as a fictionalised version of real-life Soviet war hero, Vasily Zaitsev, a sniper who was credited with killing an astonishing 225 enemy soldiers during the battle.

Fellow British actors Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz and Bob Hoskins also appear in the film, with Fiennes playing a Soviet officer swept up in Communist ideology and Hoskins playing real-life Russian propagandist, and later leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Kruschev. Weisz plays Tania, a character based on Tania Chernova who was a female sniper with Zaitsev's unit during the Battle of Stalingrad. In the film, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz's character develop a romantic relationship.



The Battle of Stalingrad lasted from July 17, 1942, until February 2, 1943. The Nazis were eventually defeated, but at an enormous cost of human life to all sides. Some estimates put total casualties from the engagement at more than a million soldiers killed on the Soviet side and more than 700,000 Germans.

Against this backdrop of unthinkable destruction, the film whittles down the conflict to two key snipers prowling the devastated city during the mass slaughter. Law's character Zaitsev has become the literal thorn in the German's side during the battle, picking off soldiers at will using his sniper rifle from hidden positions in the crumbling industrial landscape. American actor Ed Harris plays Zaitsev's Nazi counterpart, Major König, a sniper reputed to be of equal skill at dealing out death from a far.

The ensuing battle of wits between Zaitsev and König is the central thread of the film, as Harris has been tasked by his superiors in Berlin to track down and kill the troublesome Russian hitman. As war rages around them the two men engage in a cat-and-mouse duel which can only end one way. Meanwhile, the movie gives a real sense of the scale and human suffering of the battle itself, with a look into the soul of the Soviet mindset which in the end triumphed, seemingly uncaring at the massive human cost.

Writing on the respected film rating site Rotten Tomatoes, one reviewer said: "A mainstream movie that works well on three levels -- as a psychological thriller, a love story, and as an epic account of a defining battle of the Second World War." Another person added: "A beautiful, satisfyingly old-fashioned movie. If Saving Private Ryan didn't thoroughly convince you that war is hell, Enemy at the Gates should complete the job.

" Someone else pointed out they thought "the real story" was the "tense, calculated, exciting strategising of the two snipers.".