Enemy at the Gates

The film is based on William Craig's 1973 book Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad, which describes the events surrounding the Battle of Stalingrad, 1942-1943. The movie follows Soviet sniper Vasily Grigoryevich Zaytsev and his German rival, Major Erwin König, as they stalk each other during the Battle of Stalingrad. Following its release, the film received criticism in both the West and in Russia for the numerous inaccuracies of historic details, Russian linguistics and how the Red Army was presented in bias to Western views at the time.