Some thoughts on this movie and the real Battle of Stalingrad
Three things stuck in my mind after seeing “Enemy at the Gates” years ago: (1.) The opening sequence where the Russian troops are boated across the Volga to join the fight is extremely harrowing, not far removed from the opening D-Day invasion in “Saving Private Ryan” (1998), but different. “Enemy” is worth viewing for this sequence alone. (2.) The city-in-rubble sets with bodies strewn everywhere had a lasting impression on me as did the scurrying-like-rats-through-the-rubble warfare. (3.) Some may find this weird, but I always remembered the discreet lovemaking scene while the soldiers lain in the rubble trying to sleep. I'm not sure why this left an impression, maybe because it struck me as so real: Men & women would be drawn to one another and mate even in the worst possible scenarios.
As with any film based on historical events there are facts-obsessed critics who decry the lack of authenticity in this or that detail (e.g. "The zippers on the trousers aren't right, blasphemy!!"), but "Enemy" gets the gist correct and, besides, it motivates the viewer to research the actual Battle of Stalingrad. What more can you ask for?
The fact is that the protagonist, Vassili (Jude Law), had 260 verified Nazi kills and played a key role in motivating the Russians to victory in the Battle of Stalingrad, the largest and bloodiest battle in the history of warfare (with roughly 2 million killed, wounded or captured). The movie effectively shows how the Russian combatants weren't necessarily professionally trained soldiers; many of them were peasants, workers, teachers, mailmen, farmers, etc. They knew they could die the next morning hence they celebrated (and made love) while they could. Stalingrad was one of the major turning points of World War II; from then on it was all downhill for Germany.
FINAL WORD: "Enemy at the Gates" details an oft-ignored important aspect of WWII, the Eastern front. It has several memorable scenes, especially the opening crossing of the Volga and also a clever sequence involving a large shard of reflective glass.