"The performances are all outstanding, and it was great to see Kate Winslet play such a pre-Titanic part without pride or vanity..."

Would the real Michael Apted spy movie please stand up? Coming off the latest dreadful Bond film, British filmmaker Michael Apted's latest film is a sure winner for upscale arthouse fans who want something shaken and to be stirred. Enigma is about an expert Nazi codebreaker (Dougray Scott), who can figure out incredibly complex messages between German U-boats, but is even more perplexed about his love affair to a beautiful woman(Saffron Burrows).

When his lover mysteriously vanishes, Scott enlists her roommate(Kate Winslet) to help find her, and the both learn that the woman they knew was not what she seemed. Also on the prowl is a detective who knows more than he is telling(Jeremy Northam). And while this is all happening, the Allies are working around the clock to try and prevent a much-needed convoy of supply ships from being blown to bits by the lurking subs in the North Atlantic.

Michael Apted, along with co-writer Tom Stoppard, have made a complicated film that features a luscious English countryside featuring some beautiful cinematography while also juxtaposing the grit and horror of naval warfare and the despair of Europe at war. Stoppard deploys some of his most complex plotting this side of his critically lauded Arcadia. This is a very difficult film to follow, yet it all makes sense in the end.

The performances are all outstanding, and it was great to see Kate Winslet play such a pre-Titanic part without pride or vanity - there are a few scenes where she looks plump in a Hollywood way. Dougray Scott is fantastic as a manic depressive, repressively handsome, genius. And Saffron Burrows has a very sexy scene where she discreetly rides Dougray; no women are allowed in his boarding room! Though the film was filled with temp tracks from Out of Africa, Bugsy, and Basic Instinct, there was also an original score in the beginning that was erotic, moody, and chilling.

And I am not even sharing the most interesting part: Mick Jagger produced the film and he was sitting in the back row! I was involved enough to forget about him. This film is like Map of the Human Heart and Smilla's Sense of Snow: it starts very slowly and familiar and grows into a complex epic story while remaining true to a modest production. But the really good news is: Enigma is able to do this in a way that works and remains credible through the last reel.

I am very interested to see what they do with this film. Will they hurry it for the Oscars of 2000, or will they let it rest and breath for a possible Cannes entry next May? Hopefully, the movie will be allowed to be finely trimmed and properly promoted to find its place on the shelves of quality cinema.

Source: Gunlace Movie Reviews