April
19, 2002 | Most mainstream movies, even most hugely entertaining
ones, are like wallpaper: They don't require much effort to fully appreciate,
because what you see is what you get. Since there isn't much there in
the way of complexity or ambiguity - indeed, there's next to nothing
going on beyond the obvious spectacle -- you can remain a passive observer,
engaged but rarely immersed.
But
a movie as crafty and well-crafted as Enigma doesn't let you
off so easily. You want to make sense of what's happening here? Then
you have to pay close attention, connect a few A-to-B plot points without
printed instructions and, most important, come to the table with at
least a vague knowledge of who was aligned with whom during World War
II.
This
is a thinking person's entertainment - yes, I know that sounds elitist,
but it's true - which means it is entertainment for any person who doesn't
mind doing a little cerebral heavy lifting. Despite a few flurries of
narrative fuzziness, Enigma ultimately impresses as an intelligent,
involving and intricately plotted thriller about code-breaking, lovemaking
and other forms of risk-taking at a top-secret cryptography center in
WWII-era England.
Dougray
Scott (Ever After, Mission: Impossible II) is a shade too mannered
in his performance, but he nonetheless makes a compelling impression
as Tom Jericho, the unlikely hero of the piece. Through flashbacks and
expository dialogue, we're informed that Jericho, a brilliant but emotionally
vulnerable mathematician, was recruited for work at Bletchley Park,
a real-life British Intelligence headquarters during the 1940s. First
among equals on a team of similarly eccentric geniuses, Jericho established
himself as a most valuable player by cracking the code used in German
military communications. (Transmissions are sent and received with Enigma
cipher machines, devices that resemble hybrids of manual typewriters
and telephone switchboards.) Unfortunately, the stress of his work --
and his rejection by Claire Romilly (Saffron Burrows), his strikingly
beautiful co-worker and ex-lover -- drove Jericho to a nervous breakdown.
The
bulk of Enigma plays out in March 1943, as a not-entirely-recovered
Jericho is recalled to Bletchley Park. The Germans have changed their
Enigma transmission code at a singularly inconvenient time: Three massive
Allied shipping convoys have just left New York, loaded with supplies
to sustain the British war effort. So, naturally, Jericho is expected
to work more miracles of deciphering skill.
Trouble
is, our hero is distracted by (a) the recent, inexplicable disappearance
of Claire, (b) his discovery of undeciphered Enigma transmissions beneath
the floorboards of Claire's home, and (c) the hectoring presence of
Wigram (Jeremy Northam), an aggressively suave British Intelligence
agent who's on the trail of a suspected mole at Bletchley.
Hoping
to clear Claire's name - or, failing that, to at least see his beloved
once more -- Jericho joins forces with Hester Wallace (Kate Winslet),
Claire's mousy but feisty housemate, to further his investigation. A
good thing, too, because Jericho needs all the help he can get while
dividing his time between amateur detective work and race-against-time
deciphering.
Screenwriter
Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love) does a bang-up job of rethinking
his source material, a well-received novel by Robert Harris. Rather
than attempting to dumb down Harris' twisty plot, Stoppard artfully
compresses and reconfigures, most effectively in a sequence that intercuts
between code-breaking activity at Bletchley Park and Hester's solo attempt
to decode Enigma transmissions. Here and elsewhere, British filmmaker
Michael Apted directs with the same intelligence and cunning he brought
to Gorky Park and Extreme Measures, two films that, come
to think of it, could also be described as thinking persons' thrillers.
Enigma
is a frankly old-fashioned movie, complete with a traditional suspense-thriller
musical score (by John Barry) that deftly balances lush romanticism
and dark portent. The only weak link is Saffron Burrows' unaccountably
colorless performance as the supposedly irresistible Claire. She doesn't
do anything wrong, strictly speaking, but she doesn't do enough that's
right for the character. Fortunately, her screen time is kept to a minimum.
At
its frequent best, Enigma slyly evokes the spirit of classic
Alfred Hitchcock thrillers. As an aptly enigmatic British Intelligence
agent, Jeremy Northam often appears to be channeling the Cary Grant
of Notorious and Suspicion. And Kate Winslet's winning
portrayal of the plucky heroine merits flattering comparisons to resourceful
female leads in The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes.
It
should be noted, by the way, that Winslet -- bespectacled and unabashedly
zaftig in 1940s fashion -- looks appropriately unglamorous. Tabloid
gossips and snippy critics will doubtless make their usual snide remarks
about her weight. Those people should be beaten with sticks.