''Enigma'' is a 1982 Anglo-American thriller film directed by

Jeannot Szwarc Jeannot Szwarc (21 November 1937 – 14 January 2025) was a French director known for his work in American film and television. His film credits included '' Jaws 2'', ''Somewhere in Time'', ''Supergirl'' and '' Santa Claus: The Movie''. Szwarc ...

"Overview: 'Enigma'".
''

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...

'', 2019. Retrieved: August 17, 2019. and starring

Martin Sheen Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. His work spans over six decades of television and film, and his accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and ...

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. His career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he is regarded as one of the most versatile acto ...

Brigitte Fossey Brigitte Florence Fossey (; born 15 June 1946) is a French actress. Early years The daughter of a schoolteacher, Fossey was five years old when she was cast by director René Clément to star in his film, '' Forbidden Games''.Kevin McNally Kevin Robert McNally (born 27 April 1956) is an English actor and writer. He began his acting career in the BBC TV adaptation of ''I, Claudius'' (1976), but is best known for portraying Joshamee Gibbs in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' fran ...

. 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.

Plot

East German dissident Alex Holbeck (

), living in Paris, hosts a radio program aimed at

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...

countries. Bodley (

Michael Lonsdale Michael Edward Lonsdale Crouch (24 May 1931 – 21 September 2020), commonly known as Michael Lonsdale and sometimes as Michel Lonsdale, was a French-British actor and author who appeared in over 180 films and television shows. He is often ...

), a

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

agent, recruits Alex to take on a dangerous assignment. Alex is sent to

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

on a mission to steal an

Enigma code The Enigma machine is a cipher device developed and used in the early- to mid-20th century to protect commercial, diplomatic, and military communication. It was employed extensively by Nazi Germany during World War II, in all branches of the G ...

scrambler In telecommunications, a scrambler is a device that transposes or inverts signals or otherwise encodes a message at the sender's side to make the message unintelligible at a receiver not equipped with an appropriately set descrambling device. Wher ...

. This is part of an attempt to stop the Russian assassination of five

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the 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 The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

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 Brigitte Florence Fossey (; born 15 June 1946) is a French actress. Early years The daughter of a schoolteacher, Fossey was five years old when she was cast by director René Clément to star in his film, '' Forbidden Games''.Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. His career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he is regarded as one of the most versatile acto ...

), 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

as Alex Holbeck *

Brigitte Fossey Brigitte Florence Fossey (; born 15 June 1946) is a French actress. Early years The daughter of a schoolteacher, Fossey was five years old when she was cast by director René Clément to star in his film, '' Forbidden Games''.Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. His career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he is regarded as one of the most versatile acto ...

as Dimitri Vasilikov *

Derek Jacobi Sir Derek George Jacobi (; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen as well as for his work at the Royal National Theatre, he has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, a BAFTA Award, two ...

as Kurt Limmer *

as Bodley *

Frank Finlay Francis Finlay, (6 August 1926 – 30 January 2016) was an English actor. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Iago in ''Othello'' (1965). His first leading television role came in 1971 in '' Casanova''.

as Canarsky *

Warren Clarke Warren Clarke (born Alan James Clarke; 26 April 1947 – 12 November 2014) was an English actor. He appeared in many films after a significant role as Dim in Stanley Kubrick's '' A Clockwork Orange''. His television appearances included '' D ...

as Konstantin * Michael Williams as Hirsch * David Baxt as Melton *

Kevin McNally Kevin Robert McNally (born 27 April 1956) is an English actor and writer. He began his acting career in the BBC TV adaptation of ''I, Claudius'' (1976), but is best known for portraying Joshamee Gibbs in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' fran ...

as Bruno, CIA *

Michel Auclair Michel Auclair (born Vladimir Vujović, sr-cyr, Владимир Вујовић; 14 September 1922 – 7 January 1988) was an actor of Serbian and French ancestry, known best for his roles in French cinema. Auclair was born to a Serbian fat ...

as Doctor *

Féodor Atkine Féodor Atkine (born 27 February 1948) is a French actor of Russian-Polish origin. A screen performer, he has participated in numerous plays, films and television series in France and abroad. Life and career Féodor Atkine was born in Paris to ...

as The Diplomat *

Vincent Grass Vincent Grass (born 9 January 1949) is a Belgian actor. He has appeared in a number of both European and American film and television productions, the first being the Belgian television production ''Siska Van Roosemaal'' in 1973. Grass played Fia ...

as Soviet W *

Patrick Bauchau Patrick Nicolas Jean Sixte Ghislain Bauchau (born 6 December 1938) is a Belgian actor best known for his roles in the films ''A View to a Kill'', '' The Rapture'' and '' Panic Room'', as well as the TV shows '' The Pretender'' and ''House''. ...

as Soviet Soldier *

Liliane Rovère Liliane Rovère () (born 30 January 1933) is a French actress. Personal life Liliane Rovère was born Liliane Cyprienne Cukier. Of Jewish origin, she hid in Catholic institutions under a fake name during the German occupation of France in World ...

Production

Goldcrest Films Goldcrest Films is an independent British distribution, production, post production, and finance company. Operating from London and New York, Goldcrest is a privately owned integrated filmed entertainment company. Goldcrest Films oversees the pr ...

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

Paris–Le Bourget Airport Paris–Le Bourget Airport () is an airport located within portions of the communes of Le Bourget, Bonneuil-en-France, Dugny and Gonesse, north-northeast of Paris, France. Once Paris's principal airport, it is now used only for general a ...

. 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 Mystère The Dassault Super Mystère is a French supersonic fighter-bomber and was the first Western European supersonic aircraft to enter mass production. Design and development The Super Mystère represents the final step in evolution, which began w ...

B.2 *

Dassault Mystère IV The Dassault MD.454 Mystère IV is a 1950s French fighter-bomber aircraft, the first transonic aircraft to enter service with the French Air Force. It was used in large-scale combat in the Israeli Air Force during the 1967 Six Day War. Design an ...

A, F-TENN * Dassault MD.450 Ouragan, F-TEUU * Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle, F-BJTR * Lockheed L-749 Constellation, F-ZVMVSantoir, Christian
"Review: 'Enigma'".
''Aeromovies'', January 6, 2018. Retrieved: August 17. 2019.

Reception

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...

in her review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 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 ''Jaws 2'' is a 1978 American horror thriller film directed by Jeannot Szwarc and co-written by Carl Gottlieb. It is the sequel to Steven Spielberg's '' Jaws'' (1975), and the second installment in the ''Jaws'' franchise. The film stars Roy ...

'' 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 ..." Film historian and critic

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...

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 Maltin's Movie & Video Guide''), First edition 1969, published annually since 1988. .

External links

* * {{Jeannot Szwarc 1982 films Films directed by Jeannot Szwarc Cold War spy films 1982 thriller films British aviation films Films scored by Douglas Gamley Films scored by Marc Wilkinson Films set in Berlin Films about the Central Intelligence Agency American aviation films 1982 drama films Films with screenplays by John Briley Films set in Paris Films set in East Germany Films about the KGB Films about assassinations 1980s English-language films 1980s American films 1980s British films English-language thriller films