Enemy at the Gates Cast: Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Bob Hoskins, Ed Harris, Ron Perlman, Gabriel Thomson Written by: Jean-Jacques Annaud and Alain Godard Directed by: Jean-Jacques Annaud Duration: 131 minutes Synopsis: Enemy at the Gates was inspired by a true story and set against the siege of Stalingrad during World War II. This is the story of a young Russian sharpshooter, Vassili, who becomes a legend by shooting numerous high-ranking German officers. When his friend Danilov, a Soviet political officer, realizes the propaganda value of Vassili's skill as a sniper and makes him the hero of his propaganda campaign and the hero of Russia with the help of Khrushchev, sent by Stalin to supervise the Russian army. effort. Stalin ordered that the city should not fall... at any cost. It was a battle the Russians had to win. Failure to overcome it would have meant the complete collapse of Russia and its ultimate capture by German forces after Russia had already lost numerous battles against the Germans. Thus thousands of poorly trained and ill-equipped Soviet troops (many actually unarmed) were poured into battle, motivated by Russian security forces following with orders to kill anyone who attempted to flee or retreat. Russia needed a hero. The Germans outnumbered Russia in men and weapons. Every day numerous Russians were killed, both by German and Russian bullets. Vassili gave Soviet troops the courage and courage to fight despite overwhelming odds. The friendship between Danilov and Vassili is threatened when Danilov becomes jealous of the man he has created and he also falls in love with an attractive and intelligent female soldier, Tania. As the battle for the city continues, Vassili faces his final challenge when the Nazi command sends the German army's best marksman, Major Konig, to hunt down and kill the man who has become the hope of all Russia . Even though they remain in a cat and mouse chase in the film, they both show extreme patience and skill and set traps for each other. While Sasha, a young Russian boy, passes between the Russian and German camps passing information to Major Koenig via bribes and using Sasha as bait and then passes the information to the Russians. From this Sasha is hanged by Major Koenig, upsetting Vassili and Tania because Sasha was so close to them. When Tania and Vassili go to tell her mother what happened, Tania is hit by shrapnel.