Over the years, there have been many depictions of the Battle of Stalingrad in cinema. This includes films in 1989, 1993 in additional to the well known 2001 French/German/UK/US production Enemy at the Gates. The newest Stalingrad, produced in Russia, boasts incredible visuals filmed in IMAX 3D, but falls victim to corny war film conventions between its impressive moments of spectacle.
The story follows a group of Russian scouts during the lengthy and brutal WWII conflict. After surviving a battle and sneaking into an apartment complex in a section of the city occupied by German Nazi forces, the bickering group must survive a barrage of violent confrontations. While taking cover, the men are helped by a local woman who refuses to leave her home. As the bullets and mortar shells fly, the men develop a close bond with the resident and do their best to protect her from the inevitable final onslaught.
As previously implied, the finest aspects of the film are its technical achievements. There are massive, large scale shots of forces charging or the city in flames, impressively photographed in the high quality IMAX format. These scenes include explosions and flames flying through the air and out of the screen. There are even a few POV shots that follow mortar shells as they hurtle through the air and into the apartment. The ash-covered, decayed sets effectively convey the devastation of the battle and the violent toll taken on the city residents.
Yet, while the movie looks amazing, the thinly written characters never feel realistic or convincing. A narrator explains most of their back stories in the most general of terms. Beyond a moment or two, the cast are given little chance to show off any particular personality traits as the story progresses. And when there are important emotional character beats, they are directed in a larger-than-life measure – many big gestures are grandly depicted using slow motion. In fact, the process is overused greatly and other moments at which various characters declare their love for the female leads result in a few unintentional chuckles.
There’s no doubt that the technical skills on display are at times dynamic to watch and stunning to look at. However, it’s clear that all of the filmmaker’s attention was firmly focused on the visuals and not the characters. As a result, the movie isn’t nearly as effective a depiction of this brutal historical battle as it could be. Instead of painting a gritty and realistic portrait of the men who fought against incredible odds, it more closely resembles a superficial, stogy and old-fashioned war movie from decades past. A wraparound segment set in the modern day also feels unnecessary and does little to provide the moving emotional climax this story needs.
At least Stalingrad is a step forward in other respects, proving that a smaller foreign film can impress with its large scale action scenes as well as any big budget Hollywood effort. One hopes that the visually talented director makes sure that the dialogue and story is stronger before charging towards his next project. It sure looks good, but viewers wanting a truly immersive and compelling version of this story would be wiser to revisit Enemy at the Gates instead.