Enigma

This intelligent, meticulously plotted, robustly acted cold war thriller by gifted director, Jeannot 'Jaws 2' Szwarc retains much of its weighty, grimly atmospheric iron Curtain gravitas. 'Enigma' is a downbeat, fiendishly gripping 80s espionage yarn, with the disarmingly charismatic, Sam Neill's audacious attempts to out 'cat & mouse' an indefatigable Sheen is dramatically set against a doomy, oppressively glacial East Berlin backdrop, and the distractingly delicious blonde, Karen Reinhardt (Brigitte Fossey) vividly completes this increasingly dangerous, daringly duplicitous ménage à trois! The Teflon tough 'Enigma' provides exciting, nerve-twanging thrills, its grim, suffocatingly paranoid miasma of frost-bitten, pre-perestroika gloom maintained throughout, with Alex's and Karen's burgeoning love affair lending additional pathos to, Szwarc's engrossing, bullet-paced thriller. There is a dynamic, Len Deighton-esque quality to, Alex Holbeck's (Martin Sheen) increasingly desperate attempts to covertly purloin a cumbrous-looking soviet scrambler. In a rousing finale, Alex find's himself only merest heartbeats away from capture, frequently relying on guile, rather than brawn to elude his dogged, equally devious nemesis, Dimitri Vasilikov (Sam Neill).

This was the film that first indicated to me what a great actor Martin Sheen really is. He modestly claims that Charlie is a better actor, Charlie can't hold a candle to him.

I found it suspenseful and thoroughly enjoyed the intertwining of the love story with the main plot (and I usually HATE love stories). There's a great plot twist at the end that struck me as being fully credible, particularly in the early 80's time period, and probably now also.

The final scene had me on the edge of my seat. This film roundly illustrates that treachery is often doled out by those we trust, while declared enemies have more in common than they suspect, and finally, that human compassion can be found where we least expect it.

irenerose

A good cast in a strange little Cold War thriller. Though shot entirely in France, it gives a credibly chilly impression of East Berlin. Makes you want to turn up the heating (wildly extravagant these days, of course).

The plot is convincingly cynical, and the love triangle at its heart is persuasive - largely because it sidesteps cliché, especially at the film's ending.

Brigitte Fossey and Sam Neill work well together and while Martin Sheen seems less sure, his characteristic bafflement actually suit his character quite well.

Worth watching as a period-piece. And as an exercise in stargazing (Jacobi, Frank Finlay, Warren Clarke, Michael Lonsdale).

Seemingly based on a 'true story' - Whatever that means...

The CIA discovers a Russian plot to assassinate five defectives on the Christmas Day, but they do not know who they are. The defective Alex Holbeck (Martin Sheen) is recruited in Paris by CIA and sent to East Berlin to steal the scrambler of the Enigma, the machine used by the soviet intelligence for communication. On the arrival, Holbeck discovers that the KGB and the East Germany government know that he has arrived and his contacts are arrested. Holbeck meets his former lover, the lawyer Karen Reinhardt (Brigitte Fossey), and she gives a safe house to him. The Russian agent Dimitri Vasilikov (Sam Neill) and the East German agent Kurt Limmer (Derek Jacobi) try to find Holbeck's whereabout using different methods, while Karen seduces Dimitri to get the information about the location of the soldiers that Holbeck needs. However Holbeck does not know that the CIA has the scrambler and he is only a bait to convince the Russians that they do not have it.

"Enigma" is a great thriller with a complex story during the Cold War. The screenplay is very well written and with good twists. It is strange only the cast speaking English since the characters are Germans and Russians, but the cast is good and makes worthwhile watching this spy movie. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Enigma"

I first saw this film on hbo around 1983 and I loved it! I scoured all of the auction web sites to buy the vhs copy. This is a very good suspense movie with a few twists that make it more interesting. I don't want to say too much else because if you ever get a chance to see it, you'll be glad I didn't say too much!