Enigma [DVD]

A Second World War Espionage Drama based around the Codebreakers at Bletchley Park. The attention to detail of that era is excellent as is the casting. It really does have a certain 'Feel' to it of those times and the awfulness of war. The story itself Espionage Drama: Script, Acting & Direction etc is very good. Highly Recommended.

This movie is good really enjoyed it.

I recently visited Bletchley Park and was curious to watch a movie with the amazing work the cryptographers did there, set as a backdrop. It is an entertaining storyline that is filled with intrigue and dry humour and moves along at a good pace. Even though my wife did not share my interest in the subject, she still found the story interesting and say's she enjoyed the film. Good performances from the entire cast and some lovely 'on location' scenes also add to the film. As far as portraying the story of the codebreakers, this is not a documentary. Many of the events mentioned in the film actually happened but the characters in the story are not portraying actual persons involved. From what I saw on display at Bletchley Park, the lifestyle and operations of Bletchley seem to be well presented, although it was filmed in Hertfordshire and not at the actual location. All in all an enjoyable film.

SAFE READING - FEW SPOILERS Take two writers, Robert Harris and Tom Stoppard; unite them with a great director like Michael Apted and add Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, Saffron Burrows and a host of others, and what do you achieve? In 2001, a superb film called "Enigma", the film of Robert Harris's book of the same name. Robert Harris understands the top levels of government and its secrets. His careful, detailed and thorough research into the wartime world of secrets ensured that this book is a page-turner peopled by eccentric geniuses, spies, hard-pressed military personnel, initially naïve individuals and amoral (in normal human terms), tough and patriotic characters. Into this rich mix of people, he throws unrequited love, Atlantic convoys, preying wolf packs and a vital and desperate need to crack a highly secret, sophisticated code to save the world from the evil of Nazism. Throughout the book, characters face challenging moral dilemmas stemming from their wartime existence and their unknown, clandestine world; some would affect only them while others would affect the western world and change the course of history. The people above, coupled with a large team of superb designers who obviously did detailed and comprehensive research, brought Bletchley Park alive again but not just as a strange and hidden world of secrets. These code-breakers become real people with all the usual frailties and the additional temptations only wartime could create. * Do not talk at meals ... * Do not talk in the transport ... * Do not talk travelling ... * Do not talk in the billet ... * Do not talk by your own fireside ... * Be careful even in your Hut ... In May 1942, this was the opening of the individual security form for personnel at Bletchley Park, the top secret WWII code-breaking establishment without which, many experts argue, the Allies would not have won the war. After signing the official secret act (established in 1939), the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) moved to Bletchley Park on 15 August 1939 where, for the rest of the war, the vital intelligence produced from decrypts at Bletchley was code-named "Ultra". The staff ranged from humble kitchen staff, secretaries, administrators and, at the top of the hierarchy, were the code-breakers, a group of (often eccentric) geniuses who lived, for the most part, inside their heads, wrestling with the secret messages being passed between the Axis powers. The film-making team have taken Harris's words off the pages and brought Bletchley Park alive again. As often happens with films, when I read the books again, Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, Saffron Burrows fill the pages with images I cannot escape. More often than not, I object but can do nothing about the imprinted images. In the case of "Enigma", not only do I not object, I am quite happy. They are the characters for me. Buy the DVD before they're all sold!

Ive lost count of how many times I’ve watched Enigma. It’s a marvellous, historic account of wartime Bletchley park with a tense but often lighthearted story line about how the code breakers broke the German U boat code.

Great film; it couldn't be otherwise - good actors, script by Tom Stoppard BUT........ marred by audiovisual sync issues about 45mins from the end. Restores to "normal" after about 5-10mins but annoying and unacceptable

The story initially focuses on the horrendous problems caused when the Germans change the ciphers used to encode wireless traffic to and from their U-boat fleet in the North Atlantic. Bletchley is suddenly unable to read this traffic and, with three major convoys on their way from the USA to the UK, the potential for an horrific disaster is enormous. The sudden disappearance of the girlfriend of one of the Bletchley code breakers suggests she may somehow be involved in warning the Germans that their supposedly unbreakable codes are being routinely broken. The ensuing investigation is complicated when it suddenly becomes apparent that the appalling 1940 atrocity at Katyn - the execution of 20,000+ members of the Polish officer corps by the Russians - is somehow involved. And, behind all this, is the overriding pressure on the code breakers to crack the German U-boat codes within a matter of hours rather than months... The movie is extremely fast moving and I suspect that, without having read the thriller behind the movie - Robert Harris' Enigma - I may easily have missed some of the twists in this complex and brilliantly produced movie. To me, the movie handled the atrocity called Katyn somewhat better than the book. In the movie you are aware, from quite early on, that something extremely unpleasant is lurking in the background. In the book the Katyn element surfaces only in the latter pages. So treat yourself: read Enigma (plus, if you want more background, Ultra Goes to War and The Ultra Secret ) then watch the movie !

Not sure why I haven't written a review of this film before. I have viewed the DVD now 3 times since 2013, and I still find it hard going, but worth while. It does require concentration as the plot is pretty complicated ( and a bit hard to swallow in places), but the acting/casting is great and fun, except perhaps for Dougray Scott, who really looks as if he was on another planet. I must have enjoyed it to see it 3 times!! The DVD is excellent quality, with good picture, sound and subtitles. I won't describe the plot except to say the Bletcley Park sequences are really gripping, and the whole film, while it may indeed play fast and loose with the facts, is still a fascinating watch. Recomended

"Enigma" is a smart, well-crafted cinematic peek into the World War II secret code-breaking operation at Bletchly Park, an isolated mansion in the English countryside. The hero of the movie, Tom Jericho, is a mathematical genius just starting to recover from a nervous breakdown triggered by the disappearence of his lover, Claire. His relationship with Claire is told in flashbacks. In the present, Tom has been summoned back to work to help break a new Nazi code used by German submarines as they track British merchant ships in the North Atlantic. The story arc follows Tom and his fellow cryptologists as they race against the clock to break the code and save lives, while Tom and Claire's roommate Hester also seek to solve the mystery of Claire's disappearance. Tom and Hester soon discover that they are not the only ones searching for Claire. A seemingly unrelated matter soon becomes the core of the puzzle that Tom and Hester must solve. All threads will come together in a confrontation in a lonely sea loch in Scotland. A concluding scene in London provides some closure on the fates of some of the principal characters. "Enigma" is rich in period detail and historical nuance. The movie weaves in fascinating explanations of the Enigma machine itself, the business of code-breaking, and the primitive computer the British fashioned to help them break codes. "Enigma" does assume some prior knowledge of the Second World War and enough interest in the intelligence business to follow several scenes in which the characters work on the mundate details of code-breaking. This movie is very highly recommended to those with an interest in the Intelligence business and to the more general viewer interested in a thinking man's thriller. The Special Edition includes several interesting featurettes, as well as a couple of deleted scenes that may answer some questions.

great love story and a short history of the enigma machine, the Brits were great at outsmarting the Germans when you think of the odds against them!

Pas de problème, impeccable, ok

Tutti sanno che il codice Enigma era il mezzo con cui i tedeschi nella seconda guerra mondiale si scambiavano messaggi in assoluta sicurezza. Il film racconta come niente è impossile per l'intelligenza umana quando in una società regna la libertà e l'amore per la verità. Storia appassionante e ricca di colpi di scena tanto che a volte si dubita che sia realmente accaduta

Spannender Thriller. Reiht sich ein in englischsprachige Filme zum Thema Zweiter Weltkrieg. Gut gemacht. Vermittelt einem die Atmosphäre im Schatten geheimdienstlicher Aktivitäten. Empfehlenswert!