Enemy at the Gates

...where Enemy At The Gates really impresses is in its central tussle between natural sharpshooter Zaitsev and clinical assassin Konig (Harris). Annaud gets fascinating mileage in the duel of wits between the two men...

...it's remarkable, a war story told as a chess game where the loser not only dies, but goes by necessity to an unmarked grave.

Photographed as harsh spectacle in brown and gray with unfailingly overcast skies, the story is affecting and suspenseful enough when focusing on Vassili, the humble peasant youth, and his patrician adversary...

It's a particularly cruel-looking Harris (...) who commands the screen in a skillful performance almost solely conveyed through his eyes and facial expressions.

The role of the shepherd-turned-sniper is immeasurably amped by the grubby beauty of Jude Law.