Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3707 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-05-01
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, German
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 114 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Codebreaking is an inherently fascinating but not especially cinematic endeavour, which is why Enigma spices up the true story of Bletchley Park and its eclectic group of Nazi code-cracking geniuses with some fictional romance and intrigue. Dougray Scott plays gaunt mathematician Tom Jericho, haunted by the spectre of his missing girlfriend Claire (self-consciously gorgeous Saffron Burrows). Tom turns to Claire's frumpy housemate Hester Wallace (dressed-down Kate Winslet) to help him find her, but their search unexpectedly reveals the presence of a spy at Bletchley Park. Matters are further complicated by an investigating secret service agent (imperturbable Jeremy Northam) and the hostility of Jericho's superiors.

Based on the novel by Robert Harris and adapted for the screen by Tom Stoppard, Enigma is unsurprisingly a literate and accomplished piece, unfussily directed by Michael Apted who keeps the various current and flashback story threads moving neatly in parallel, helped along by a languid score from veteran John Barry and a vividly realised wartime setting ("Have you heard the latest? Utility knickers--one yank and they're off!"). The contrived plot, however, distracts from the real drama, which is to be found in the desperate struggle to decipher the Enigma machine codes and the sometimes terrible ethical dilemmas involved. A little like that other Kate Winslet film, Titanic, this is another example of the factual background being far more compelling than the fiction grafted on top.

On the DVD: Engima arrives on disc in an extras-free package, with only scene selection and subtitles. More than one excellent documentary has been made about Alan Turing and his team of Bletchley Park codebreakers, so it's doubly disappointing to have nothing here on the real-life events depicted in the movie. Picture is widescreen 1.78:1 and sound Dolby 5.1 surround.--Mark Walker

DVD Description
DVD Features:

Widescreen 1.78:1 format
Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, English for the hearing impaired, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish

Synopsis
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.
Apted's WWII thriller, based on the novel by Robert Harris and screenplay by Tom Stoppard, is a well-crafted period piece that successfully transports the audience to 1940s Britain. Scott and Winslet are compelling in their roles as intellectuals forced into action, and Northam exudes a rakish charm during his appearances. The film's secret weapon, however, is the plot, which gets more and more intriguing as the story progresses. In the end, even the most astute viewers will be surprised by ENIGMA's finale.

Customer Reviews

Worth watching but don't think this is the real story
I was so looking forward to this film as I have for many years been fascinated by the story of Bletchley Park. I also love Robert Harris' novel "Enigma" on which this film is partly based.

I was disappointed because I have read something of the backgound and found the short cuts taken for the purposes of the screenplay very clumsy, for example the explanation about why the U-boat codes couldn't be read and taking an Enigma machine away, just misrepresented the technicalities and the real drama and difficulty of what people were doing.

If I hadn't known what the story of code-breaking was really about, I would have really enjoyed this film and there is a lot to like. Kate Winslet is well-cast and is good in the role of Hester. Jeremy Northam is wonderfully chilling. Dougray Scott uses a strange array of accents but is endearing. There is one scene which captures the tension, when the codebreakers spend the night trying to reconstruct their "crib" in order to break the code and that is very well done. The whole film is well made, I think.

So, in summary, this an odd adaptation of a book which itself tries to tell a true story by means of fiction. It's all a bit techie so that was always going to be difficult.

Watch it as a latter-day John Buchan story. It's a fun film.

An Enigmatic film experience.
Enigma is a fantastic film from acclaimed director Michael Apted. Featuring Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet and Jeremy Northam, it is based on Robert Harris' book of the same name. The story is set in England during World War II and focuses on the efforts of British cryptanalysts who worked tirelessly throughout the war to break German codes and ciphers. The Germans believed that the messages encrypted on their Enigma machines were indecipherable. Tom Jericho (Scott) is one of the cryptanalysts working at Bletchley Park, the code-breaking centre of England. He is recovering from a nervous breakdown following a relationship break-up and due to the stress of his job. Having broken the Enigma codes before he returns to Bletchley to help break a new and more sophisticated German U-Boat code, only to discover that his ex-lover Claire (Saffron Burrows) has disappeared. Enlisting the help of her room-mate Hester (Winslet), Jericho sets out to find her. Meanwhile, Bletchley Park is under the surveillance of Agent Wigram (Northam), searching for a double-agent at Bletchley, determined to incriminate the missing Claire and the love-sick Jericho. Throw in a dramatic stand-off between German U-Boats, American cargo ships and the harried Bletchley cryptanalysts, as well as a car chase and a love triangle, and Engima provides an exciting 119 minutes of viewing pleasure!

Kate Winslet gives a strong and assured performance, allowing Hester to add some 'Girl Power' to the largely 'Boys-Own' adventure. Dougray Scott looks suitably gaunt and worn-out as Jericho, Saffron Burrows is perfectly cast as the beautiful and enigmatic Claire and Jeremy Northam is wonderfully suave, sophisticated and cold as the ruthless government agent.

The DVD contains special features such as interviews with the cast and a 'Making-of' featurette. Shots of raw, behind-the-scenes footage give you a chance to see how several of the shots in the movie were filmed, as well as an extended observation of Mick Jagger (co-Producer) as a night club extra! The behind-the-scenes footage is fantastic. I especially enjoyed hearing the actors discuss their characters and the history of Bletchley Park and its inhabitants. One problem with the Special Features on this disc is that the raw footage seems out of context. It just shows one scene being shot, then another, then another ad-infinitum. It would've been nice to have had Apted or the cinematographer give us some kind of commentary to give an insight into the filming process. Likewise, the film itself has no commentary track. Having heard Northam's insights into his performance on The Winslow Boy DVD commentary, this is a pity.

Watching Enigma, I felt like I had been magically transported back into England of the 1940s, living the life of a Bletchley Park cryptanalyst. I didn't want to leave the world Michael Apted and his cast and crew had created, which is surely the sign of a great film.

Good film, rubbish release.
This is a very good film, and I feel that the review "An Enigmatic film experience" posted in 2002 gives a suitable resume of the movie itself.

This review is primarily a warning to mention that the writer of that review is referring to the original DVD release of the film, which had lots of special features and was in the correct cinema aspect ratio (2.35:1) and which on Amazon, at least, is currently unavailable.

The item on sale at the moment is a re-released version, which is inexplicably much poorer than the original. It appears to be a rather hashed together DVD in every respect, with the film itself shown in a shockingly bad print in a cropped aspect ratio (1.78:1), which noticably damages director Michael Apted's framing at crucial points with very distracting pan-and-scanning. The DVD also has no extras at all.

I have thus given this release three stars because despite it being an enjoyable film, the DVD is rubbish. Let's hope the studio will think again and re-release their original DVD print.

Film ****
DVD *