Enigma
(2001)
|
Set in England during World War II, Michael Apted's ENIGMA follows bookish code-breaker Tom Jericho (Dougray Scott) through a whirlwind love affair with Claire Romilly (Saffron Burrows), a seductive blonde clerk, and his subsequent recovery from a mental breakdown caused by the relationship. As Tom begins to pick up the pieces of his sanity, he is reinstated by his former employers at Bletchley Park, a secret agency that intercepts transmissions from German U-boats and decodes them for use in the Allied cause. When a suave government agent (Jeremy Northam) investigates Bletchley in search of a suspected spy and the now-missing Claire, Tom takes matters into his own hands and enlists the help of Claire's roommate, the seemingly prim Hester Wallace (Kate Winslet). Together Tom and Hester begin to unravel a mystery that goes extends across continents and allegiances. |
Screenshots
Acting as an antidote to the Hollywood heroism of U-571, in which a German code machine is recovered by the US Navy during the Second World War, this romantic thriller (based on the Robert Harris novel) concentrates on the quiet, bookish pluck of our own code-breakers at Bletchley Park. Dougray Scott plays the fragile but brilliant Tom Jericho, back at his desk after a nervous breakdown and drawn into a race against time to crack the latest German cipher. He also suspects that the girl he has become infatuated with (Saffron Burrows) is a spy. This well-acted wartime intrigue has Kate Winslet looking suitably dowdy in a supporting role, while Jeremy Northam steals the show as a pompous secret serviceman. The film is commendable for the intelligence it assumes on the part of the audience, but the effect is spoiled somewhat by a superfluous, Boys' Own adventure ending that seems out of synch with the rest of the movie.