Film Review - Enigma (From Western Telegraph)

Film Review - Enigma

Director: Michael Apted Starring: Dougray Scott, Kate Winslett, Saffron Burrows, Jeremy Northam Cert. 15; Dur. 117 mins

Nothing to set your world on fire Im afraid, but still plenty thats more interesting than most of the garbage on the box.

Enigma tells the story of Bletchley Parks code breakers in world war two. The Germans seemed in advance of our codes and we seemed to be trailing badly in trying to work out theirs. It was down to a group of expert boffins and the Enigma machine to turn the corner and take the secret initiative.

Bletchley Park, one of Englands most beautiful stately homes, known then and in Michael Apteds film as Station X, was a setting as intriguing as the codes the boffins were trying to crack. Like many grand residences war gave the buildings and gardens new purpose and the rooms bore witness to many new inhabitants that would never have entered such places were it not for the conflict.

In this story, based on the novel by Robert Harris, Dougray Scott plays Jericho, a number cruncher recovering from a nervous breakdown, the pressure of his work at Bletchely having sent him over the edge. So he returns from a break only to find that German advances have led some to believe that they have a spy in their midst and the suspicious glances are turning towards Jericho.

The supporting cast includes the best of British especially our Kate Winslett doing her best, being blessedly frumpy, as Jerichos eager assistant. The best of the bunch is Jeremy Northam who is frantically devilish and shifty eyed as the secret service operative trying to piece together the whole puzzle.

All together Enigma looks just stunning, its a well-crafted little film but it does seem sadly to be falling between two stools. Tom Stoppards screenplay loses something of the books wordy English spy drama trying to make this something that the average multiplex viewer will see on a Friday night. But Tomb Raider this most certainly is not, despite some desperate attempts at 1940s car chases.

Battle Royale is a Japanese film. For many people that conjures the image of a man in a rubber dinosaur outfit stamping on three inch models of Tokyo while a man off camera swings tiny model fighter aeroplanes at him on the end of a fishing rod. Well, certainly a spate of ridiculous monster flicks have done Japanese cinema some damage. But lets not forget that Japan has a proud history in film including many classics that were the inspiration for Star Wars, The Magnificent Seven and countless other films that borrowed structure and shots from classic Japanese cinema.

So, here is Battle Royale, the latest in a new trend of teenage horror, heavily influenced by America, with a Japanese twist, making American slasher fayre look like Sesame Street. The story is a real Lord Of The Flies idea that in the near future rising crimes in teenagers will be handled by putting groups on an island with weapons and ordering them to kill each other until one lucky survivor remains.

Its sick isnt it? Its 18 certificate reflects that. But I mention it because its firstly a sign of the times, secondly its a very trendy thing to know about (its director is Fukasaku Kinji in case you want to drop it in to conversation at parties) and thirdly, well I must admit, its a pretty good film. I certainly think it will affect the films we see over the next few years.

If you cant bear that theres a really tawdry British romantic comedy called Crush, about Andie McDowell falling for a much younger man. You can imagine.