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Enigma (1982 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Enigma' is a 1982 Anglo-American thriller film directed by Jeannot Szwarc[http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/74123/Enigma/ "Overview: 'Enigma'."] 'Turner Classic Movies', 2019. Retrieved: August 17, 2019. and starring Martin Sheen, Sam Neill, Brigitte Fossey, and Kevin McNally. Based on Michael Barak's novel 'Enigma Sacrifice', the film centers on a CIA agent who tries to infiltrate Soviet intelligence in order to stop a murderous plot.Floyd 2004, p. 357.
Plot
East German dissident Alex Holbeck (Martin Sheen), living in Paris, hosts a radio program aimed at Iron Curtain countries. Bodley (Michael Lonsdale), a CIA agent, recruits Alex to take on a dangerous assignment.
Alex is sent to East Berlin on a mission to steal an Enigma code scrambler. This is part of an attempt to stop the Russian assassination of five Soviet dissidents planned for Christmas Day. What Alex does not know is that the CIA already has a code scrambler. By stealing the scrambler in Berlin, they are trying to convince the Russians that they do not have a copy.
On arrival in Berlin, Alex finds that the East German police and KGB knows that he is there. Alex must use numerous disguises and escape from a number of capture attempts. He seeks shelter with his former lover, Karen Reinhardt (Brigitte Fossey), before moving on, as it is too dangerous for her. Karen and a number of Alex's other old friends are arrested and tortured by the police in an attempt to gain information about Alex's whereabouts.
As he gets more desperate, Alex enlists Karen's help again; she seduces Dimitri Vasilikov (Sam Neill), the KGB man in charge of the hunt for Alex, to obtain information. In the end, Dimitri catches Alex and Karen and finds the scrambler hidden in an exhibition artifact. As he is in love with Karen, he lets them go, but keeps the scrambler, which was in fact not needed. On Christmas Day, the assassination attempt is successfully thwarted.
Cast
* Martin Sheen as Alex Holbeck
* Brigitte Fossey as Karen Reinhardt
* Sam Neill as Dimitri Vasilikov
* Derek Jacobi as Kurt Limmer
* Michael Lonsdale as Bodley
* Frank Finlay as Canarsky
* Warren Clarke as Konstantin
* Michael Williams as Hirsch
* David Baxt as Melton
* Kevin McNally as Bruno, CIA
* Michel Auclair as Doctor
* Fodor Atkine as The Diplomat
* Vincent Grass as Soviet W
* Liliane Rovre
Production
Goldcrest Films put up $58,000 in development costs and invested 985,000 in the budget of $8.1 million. The company received 355,000, losing 630,000.Eberts and Illott 1990, pp. 98, 655.
'Enigma' was shot partly, in 1982, at ParisLe Bourget Airport. A scene was shot in the terminal, in the hall of eight columns, disused at the time, others on the terrace or in front of the entrance.
The aircraft in 'Enigma' are:
* Dassault Super MystreB.2
* Dassault Mystre IVA, F-TENN
* Dassault MD.450 Ouragan, F-TEUU
* Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle, F -BJTR
* Lockheed L-749 Constellation, F-ZVMV Santoir, Christian. [http://aeromovies.fr/articles.php?lng=en&pg=2898&mnuid=1425&tconfig=0#z2 "Review: 'Enigma'."] 'Aeromovies', January 6, 2018. Retrieved: August 17. 2019.
Reception
Janet Maslin in her review for 'The New York Times', decried the "wise-guy" attitude in 'Enigma', writing, "There are plenty of mysteries about 'Enigma' but they aren't necessarily the ones the film makers intended. As directed by Jeannot Szwarc, best known for 'Jaws 2' and 'Somewhere in Time', this is the spy film at its most absurdly hard-boiled and at its most icily perfunctory. It is punctuated by crisp titles (indicating the date of each scene), played very close to the vest and riddled with false alarms ..."Maslin, Janet. [https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E04E7D71138F93BA15752C0A965948260 "Review: 'Enigma'."] 'The New York Times', January 28, 1983.
Film historian and critic Leonard Maltin in 'Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2013' (2012) noted a "fine cast does its best with so-so material."Maltin 2012, p. 416.
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
* Eberts, Jake and Terry Illott. 'My Indecision is Final'. London: Faber and Faber, 1990. .
* Floyd, Nigel. "Review: 'Enigma'." in Pym, John, ed. 'Time Out Film Guide'. London: Time Out Guides Limited, 2004. .
* Maltin, Leonard. 'Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2013'. New York: New American Library, 2012 (originally published as 'TV Movies', then 'Leonard Maltins Movie & Video Guide'), First edition 1969, published annually since 1988. .
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