Cast: Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, Jeremy Northam, Saffron Burrows, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Tom Hollander, Corin Redgrave
Director: Michael Apted
Producers: Mick Jagger, Lorne Michaels
Screenplay: Tom Stoppard, based on the novel by Robert Harris
Cinematography: John Barry
Music: Seamus McGarvey
U.S. Distributor: Manhattan Pictures International
Few working filmmakers can boast a career as diverse as that of Michael Apted. The British-born director has a long, impressive resume that includes a number of intriguing feature films, the amazing 7 Up documentary series, and even a James Bond movie (The World Is Not Enough). Apted's latest is Enigma, which is, in some ways, a companion piece to the Hollywood outing, U-571. While that film presented a fictionalized account of how the Enigma decryption device was captured (with Americans taking the place of the British), Enigma shows how the machine was used when it got into the hands of the decoders.
The action takes place at Bletchley Park, 60 miles north of London, where the heart of England's World War II decoding operation was located. Tom Jericho (Dougray Scott, last seen as the bad guy in Mission: Impossible 2) was one of the best in the business until he suffered a nervous breakdown after being dumped by his girlfriend, Claire Romilly (Saffron Burrows). Now, a shell of the man he once was, Jericho is back at work - the decoders need him because the Germans have altered their encryption methods, blacking out the Allies at a crucial time (a huge convoy crossing the Atlantic may be headed into a German U-boat trap). Meanwhile, Claire has vanished, and Tom, aided by her flatmate, Hester Wallace (Kate Winslet), begins to investigate her disappearance. The deeper they dig, the more their activities attract the attention of the mysterious Wigram (Jeremy Northam).
Enigma is an imperfect but entertaining thriller that probably would have been more engaging had it been allowed to expand well beyond the two-hour running length. Parts of the film, especially during the last forty-five minutes, feel rushed, as if Apted was under pressure to tell the story as quickly as possible. Economy of screen time is typically an asset in motion pictures (these days, it's also an increasingly rare commodity), but Apted cuts a few too many corners. For example, Tom Stoppard's screenplay never gives us real insight into how the codebreaking is accomplished. An attempt is made to reduce the complex procedure into layman's terms, but the analogy (which involves the name on a tombstone) is neither lucid nor effective.
Nevertheless, Enigma does a good job of depicting the wild energy that drives the codebreakers, as well as the strain they're under from all sides. Lives depend on their actions and the politicians and military men can't understand why the process takes so long. The film's least satisfying aspect is Tom and Hester's investigation of Claire's disappearance, which dilutes the narrative's focus, taking it away from codebreaking and into a more traditional espionage thriller arena. There's a lot of running around (and even a car chase) which, at the end, all seems rather pointless. The best thing about this part of the story is that it allows an understated friendship/romance to develop between Tom and Hester, both of whom come across as well-developed individuals. Credit strong performances by Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet for that. Apted's direction, enhanced by Seamus McGarvey's beautiful cinematography and John Barry's rich score, has an almost retro feel to it. This kind of movie was once far more popular than it is today. Aside from a nude scene, there's little in this picture that would have been out-of-place in a production of a half-century ago.
Enigma had its world premiere at the 2001 Sundance film festival, where it seemed a little out-of-place. It had a higher profile cast and crew than anything else debuting during the festival's 10 days, and about the only justification the programmers could find for showing it is that it didn't yet have a U.S. distributor. (Ultimately, it was picked up by a small outfit - most American viewers won't get a chance to see it until it's available on video.) Nevertheless, with its combination of intrigue, romance, and adventure set against a World War II backdrop, the movie has an undeniable appeal. Flaws aside, Enigma is engaging and ambitious.
© 2002 James Berardinelli