Enigma (2001)
Country: HOL/US/GB/GER
Technical: Technicolor/Panavision 119m
Director: Michael Apted
Cast: Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, Jeremy Northam, Saffron Burrows, Corin Redgrave
Synopsis:
Codebreakers at Bletchley Park race to crack the Shark version of the Enigma code, while amateur sleuths and a police inspector are hot on the trail of a traitor at the camp.
Review:
What with its stiff upper lipped performances and John Barry score, this is a remarkably old-fashioned looking picture, but unlike The Eye of the Needle, say, it generally works. This is partly due to the weather-beaten, jilted presence of its lead character, and the superbly contemptuous contribution of Northam's policeman, both of whom smack of Graham Greene. Also the intrigue and unusual subject matter add a dimension of intellectual stimulation missing from so much wartime espionage hokum. It is a pity the script is quite so hung up on the blonde femme fatale figure and there are rather too many flashbacks, but it is a solid achievement.
Country: HOL/US/GB/GER
Technical: Technicolor/Panavision 119m
Director: Michael Apted
Cast: Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, Jeremy Northam, Saffron Burrows, Corin Redgrave
Synopsis:
Codebreakers at Bletchley Park race to crack the Shark version of the Enigma code, while amateur sleuths and a police inspector are hot on the trail of a traitor at the camp.
Review:
What with its stiff upper lipped performances and John Barry score, this is a remarkably old-fashioned looking picture, but unlike The Eye of the Needle, say, it generally works. This is partly due to the weather-beaten, jilted presence of its lead character, and the superbly contemptuous contribution of Northam's policeman, both of whom smack of Graham Greene. Also the intrigue and unusual subject matter add a dimension of intellectual stimulation missing from so much wartime espionage hokum. It is a pity the script is quite so hung up on the blonde femme fatale figure and there are rather too many flashbacks, but it is a solid achievement.
Country: HOL/US/GB/GER
Technical: Technicolor/Panavision 119m
Director: Michael Apted
Cast: Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, Jeremy Northam, Saffron Burrows, Corin Redgrave
Synopsis:
Codebreakers at Bletchley Park race to crack the Shark version of the Enigma code, while amateur sleuths and a police inspector are hot on the trail of a traitor at the camp.
Review:
What with its stiff upper lipped performances and John Barry score, this is a remarkably old-fashioned looking picture, but unlike The Eye of the Needle, say, it generally works. This is partly due to the weather-beaten, jilted presence of its lead character, and the superbly contemptuous contribution of Northam's policeman, both of whom smack of Graham Greene. Also the intrigue and unusual subject matter add a dimension of intellectual stimulation missing from so much wartime espionage hokum. It is a pity the script is quite so hung up on the blonde femme fatale figure and there are rather too many flashbacks, but it is a solid achievement.