An expert Russian sniper, Vasily Zaytsev (Jude Law) plays a cat-and-mouse game with German sniper Major König (Ed Harris) during the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942. Vasily, who becomes a national hero, is aided by his lover Tania (Rachel Weisz), his friend Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) and Nikita Khrushchev (Bob Hoskins), who realises the marksman's value in terms of propaganda.
Some of the sets don’t look especially realistic (not sure if that’s because it’s early CGI or whether it’s something to do with the models they used), but the scenes of soldiers being shot down in their hundreds look all too plausible.
The relationships between the key characters are convincing, and Law and Weisz in particular create a strong chemistry together.
It’s one of the more compelling war films because it makes you care about the characters and understand their motivations – including those of the villain. And while the love story is touching, the overall narrative never gives way to sentimentality.
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