Analysis of the first two minutes of Enemy at the Gates.

The first two minutes of Enemy at the gates really builds tension up right from the start. Russian Soldiers are being rushed on to boats giving the viewer the impression that they are heading out to War as you hear gun shots and men shouting. Patriotic music is being played in the background giving the viewer the  idea of the of this War. The next scene is them out at sea and there are body parts floating in the ocean and the music is still playing. They then do a shot of the Hero looking all baffled, confused and a bit scared on what is going on. With bombs being dropped and gun shots all then men on board the boat are being told orders by we assume the Captain or General, we then get a shot of bombs being dropped right by the boats, so we can see that the enemy is attacking and that there is a War going on at that minute. While these orders are being said the men are all still looking around for where the aircraft are and they here a bomb being dropped and it lands right beside them with a series of other bombs going off they all duck as they do not want to be hit. Still the Commander is shouting these orders at the soldiers through a mega phone oblivious to the fact that are probably not taking them in as they are all alert for planes which could end their lives.The scenes through out are all short and quick so we get a large view of what is actually going on and see whats going on from their perspective.  Another shot of a bomb gets dropped and a boat explodes. We then get the over the shoulder view of the airplane as it sprays its bullets at the boats and men duck down and get hit in the back or in their neck. Commanders around the boat are trying to shoot these aircraft down with their machine guns thinking that it makes a difference but really them standing there is a recipe for getting killed.

After a series of more gun fire, bombs being dropped and deaths on the boat, men decide to go over board, however the commanders etc, tell them to stay and get back on the boat with guns pointing at them, these men were abandoning their country and so the commanders shot them as they were acting cowardly.

We get the sense right from the start that the genre of this film is war and that the conventions of this Genre are blood, weapons, death etc. The first two minutes will not bore the viewer because of these quick shots and events that are going on in the film and now that they know the face of the Hero.