Whilst masses of films have been churned out about the European campaigns of the Second World War, there have been few films set on the Russian front. We all know why this is. The Americans are soley responsible for winning the war and any part of the fighting that they were not involved in is not worth learning about. There has been a move recently to make more realistic historical movies and this , I think re-dresses the balance and reminds us that the ’’total’’ war of the Eastern Front was the site of some of the most horrific and desperate struggles.
The action takes place in Stalingrad, a city that became a personal battle between, Hitler and Stalin, a city in ruins and a city still heavily populated with Russian civilians. The main protaganists are a young hunter turned sniper, Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law) and a German marksman called Major Koning (Ed Harris). Due to the nature of the battlefield they are on, conventional war is difficult and has been replaced by a cat and mouse game played by solo Russian snipers, picking off important targets and trying to evade capture. As the body count rises, the morale of the Russian troops rise and the German spirits drop. Enter Major Koning, brought in with one goal, take out the Russian number one sniper.The film then revolves around the personal duel between the two, through the urban hell of burnt out factories and shattered houses.
The sub plot is provided by the love interest, Tania (Rachael Weis) a militia soldier who gradually falls for Vassili. This is complicated by Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), Vassili`s fair-weather friend who also has designs on the girl. Danilov is the only character given real depth. His fate is entwined with Vassilis, and when the battle starts slipping away from them, his true colours are shown.
Amongst the British dominated cast, even Bob Hoskins turns up as Nikita Krushchev, military leader of the Russian counter attack and future premier of the country. Eveyone seems to be reasonably well cast in their role, no-one stands out in particular, though Ed Harris does make a very stoic German.
The action is grim and gritty and unless you are a fan of the more realistic style of film making, it may not be your cup of tea. The ending is a bit obvious but there are, I guess, only two ways of ending the film, either the German wins the duel, or the Russian does, I wont tell you which ending they used.
There has been a lot of debate about the films historical accuracy, something which I do harp on about a bit. Whilst Braveheart, for example, was turned into a fairy story and the Patriot was set in a parallel dimension, the basic backdrop to this story is pretty good.
Vassili Zaitsev did exist, not the Russians top sniper, but a very successful one, whether he fought such a duel with a German marksman is not known. What it offers is a possible story of a small part of a big campaign, if you made the film based on recorded fact, you wouldnt have much of a film.
The filmmaker has to flesh out a story to keep the audience satisfied and I think that this has been done well, without altering the focus of the story. This then is a melting pot of all the small stories, the loves, lives and horrors of the normal people stuggling just to survive, it may not have happened this way, but there are valid truths in the individual aspects of the story.
If you just want a hard edged action movie, then this will fit the bill and may even stimulate you to find out more about this forgotten part of our recent past, the film ’’Stalingrad’’ is the obvious choice.
Great, I didnt even mention Saving Private Ryan once.....damn!