Enigma DVD > Reviews > Fantastic

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	A real puzzle acted magnificently
Disadvantages:	You have to stay awake through this one .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

A friend and I went down to see this the other day and I have to say that having read the reviews on Ciao I wasn't expecting much. I should also say that the friend I took down is something of a war historian, specialising in WW2, and really fussy about historical accuracy in films. I was expecting to sit through an o.k. movie and then walk home listening to him ranting about how the film industry can never get it right. In the end I was pleasantly surprised.

For a start the cast was excellent. Dougray Scott was wonderful. He plays Tom Jericho, a mathematician with a penchant for crosswords who gets drafted into Bletchley Park to help crack the Nazi’s infamous enigma codes. As the action starts Jericho is returning to Bletchley after a nervous breakdown, caused by his association with the mysterious Claire (played by Saffron Burrows), only to discover that she has gone missing and that the Nazi’s have changed the codes that he helped crack before he went loopy. He is gradually led deeper and deeper into the mystery and into the path of Hester (Kate Winslett), Claire’s housemate.

It’s true that the plot makes you work a bit. It’s not straight forward boy meets girl stuff. Nor is it a typical war film with explosions here, there and everywhere. It is, however, a really good mystery, one that keeps you guessing as you decide time and time again who did it, only to be proved wrong every time. The film isn’t just about the codes and code crackers of Bletchley, there’s a lot more to it than that, as the plot leads you to massacres in Poland and cottages in Scotland. I can’t say too much without giving the game away, but one of the best things for me about the film was the way it was populated with antiheroes and antiheroines. No one is exactly as they seem.

The performances were fantastic. Tom Stoppard was responsible for the screenplay so there are a few fantastic one liners. The best of these are delivered in immaculate style by Jeremy Northam as the inspector assigned to the case. It’s true that Saffron Burrows is not exactly the guiding light of the film, as far as performances go. It hardly matters, though, as she’s not given that much to do beyond mournful gazing.

Scott and Winslett make the whole thing shine for me. She is as good as she has ever been in this film and he is blinding. Both of them play unattractive figures but they are irresistible.

I get the feeling that this would be a good movie for people who like puzzles. There is some action in it and good helping of suspense but the mystery is what holds your attention. The details in the film also made it for me. For example there is one scene where a wren asks Jericho if her work taking down encrypted German messages is important for the war effort as she cant read what she takes down and needs to be reassured that she is helping. There are a number of these little insights into what war was really like on the home front and my friend was impressed by the accuracy of what he saw. After the awful fiasco that has been Hollywood’s interpretation of the events of WW2 it’s nice to see us reclaiming some of the action.

I would sincerely recommend this film to anyone looking for something a bit different and a bit more interesting next time they go to the cinema.