Tania Chernova: Russian War Hero; Badass Sniper; Not Your Damsel.
In the film Enemy at the Gates, a Russian sniper in WWII, Vasily Zaytsev, is transferred to the sniper division after he saves a comrade of his. In reality, he served as a clerk before being transferred to the Rifle regiment. The story of the popular film doesn’t mention his early war career at all, but instead jumps into the battle at Stalingrad: while in Stalingrad, Zaytsev meets Tania Chernova, a young woman whose affections he vies for in competition with one of his close friends. The comrade and friend, Danilov, later transfers Tania away from the combat to keep her safe.
This is all a lie. The love triangle is a lie. But more importantly? So is Tania. Or at least, the version of her the film presents to us is.
In real life, Tania Chernova was a ruthless sniper who met Zaytsev at a sniping school he ran. Tania had lost family in the brutal war and decided to take out her enemies, the Germans, in revenge for their deaths.
She was a ruthless and skilled sniper who called the Germans ‘Sticks’ as she thought that all they were good for was breaking. Tania traveled through Stalingrad on her own and, at times, with Zaytsev, and the two did eventually became lovers. In a twist of fate, each of them came to believe the other had died in the war, and they didn’t learn they’d both survived the front lines until they were nearing old age.
Tania was on the front lines serving her country and fighting against the Germans, and while the story of the film reflects this, it is very sad that the writers of the movie decided, quite disappointingly, to turn her into nothing more than a damsel in distress and a prize for Zaytsev to win that would represent his happiness at the end of the movie.
To be clear, they turned a celebrated veteran into a prop for two men to fawn over, and felt the need to erase her true military career for good measure.
The question is, why?
Tania Charnova was not a man’s prize, or a troubled damsel who needed to be saved: she was a dedicated soldier and a skilled sniper who should be renowned for her marksmanship, fierceness, and bravery during the war.
It honestly makes one sad to see such an interesting woman and historical figure squandered like this by a script. Of course, it’s hardly anything new for Hollywood to turn women into nothing more than set dressing.
Still, it’s sad to know the writers and studio went to such lengths to make her seem delicate, pretty, and helpless, as opposed to portraying the often ugly, flawed human being she truly was; a damaged but still brave and driven young woman who used her pain to help her own country, and by extension the world, by taking on Nazi forces. She should be upheld as an incredible hero and a role model for her intelligence and her shooting skills, not turned into a pretty face meant to entice a male hero.
And yet, no matter how hard they try to erase the truth to fit a petite, doe-eyed, polished lie, they can’t erase Tania’s true history, or the mark she left on the world.
