ENEMY AT THE GATES 105
with a 4× scope, was credited with 225 verified kills (11 of them enemy snipers),
many at distances over 1,000 meters. For his prowess as a marksman Zaitsev was
named a Hero of the Soviet Union and awarded four Orders of Lenin. Legendary
in his own country, Zaitsev’s name filtered to the West thanks to two books: Wil-
liam Craig’s nonfiction book, Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Sta lin grad (Reader’s
Digest Press, 1973) and David L. Robbins’ historical novel, War of the Rats (Ban-
tam Books, 1999). Rus sian newspaper accounts during the war and Sgt. Zaitsev’s
own memoir, Zapiski Snaypera [A Sniper’s Notes] (1956), tell of a snipers’ duel at Sta-
lin grad between Zaitsev and a German officer named Heinz Thorvald (aka Major
Erwin König) that Zaitsev won, a story that has never been either verified or dis-
proven ( Enemy at the Gates devotes a mere three pages to this incident, whereas
Robbins’ novel is entirely centered on it). Fascinated by the anecdote “of a lonely
man fighting against the devil,” French filmmaker Jean Jacques Annaud (The Name
of the Rose) co- wrote a screen adaptation with frequent collaborator, Alain Godard,
allegedly based on William Craig’s cursory account. Bud geted at $86 million, Enemy
at the Gates was the most expensive American production to be shot in Eu rope up
to that time. Paramount Pictures co- financed the movie with Mandalay Pictures
and CP Medien AG, a German tax shelter fund. Paramount handled domestic dis-
tribution while Mandalay pre- sold the movie to overseas distributors.
Production
Searching for locations to build Sta lin grad sets Annaud, producer John D. Scho-
field, and production designer Wolf Kroeger conducted a search of Eu rope before
they settled on three sites in eastern Germany: an abandoned factory in the indus-
trial town of Rudersdorf (where scenes with König, the German sharpshooter
played by Ed Harris, were filmed); a deserted military barracks in the village of
Krampnitz (where Sta lin grad’s Red Square was re- created); and a new lake cre-
ated from a former opencast lignite mine near the village of Pritzen, south of Bran-
denburg (where Volga River scenes were shot). The building of the Red Square set
took five months (October 1999– February 2000). The massive set included exte-
rior ruins of the Pravda printing plant, the Gorky Theatre, the Univermag depart-
ment store, and Sta lin grad’s most iconic landmark: the Barmaley Fountain, a statue
depicting a circle of six children dancing around a crocodile. Principal photogra-
phy took place between mid- January 2000 and May 2000, with final interior scenes
filmed at Babelsberg Studio, outside Berlin.
Plot Summary
In the fall of 1942 Vassili Zaitsev ( Jude Law), a former shepherd from the Ural
Mountains, is fighting on the frontlines during the Battle of Sta lin grad. During a
suicidal frontal assault on German positions, Zaitsev uses his superior skills as a
marksman to kill five Germans, saving himself and Commissar Danilov ( Joseph
Fiennes). Nikita Khrushchev (Bob Hoskins), who comes to Sta lin grad to bolster the
city defenses, sees a need for improving the overall morale of the citizens. Danilov, a
se nior lieutenant, argues that Rus sians are in need of heroes to pin their hopes on.
To this end, Danilov churns out stories lauding Zaitsev’s accomplishments in the