Enigma (1982) User Reviews

Great Cold War Spy Movie

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 20 June 2015]

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"

Bleak as well as thrilling spy-film about a double agent who goes behind the Curtain Iron

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 18 April 2011]

Passable spy film about the Cold War with confused plot . The film concerns about a defector (Martin Sheen) who is recruited by the Secret Services (Michael Lonsdale) in an underground spies ring to attempt to encounter the key of five pending killings by locating a Russian coded microprocessor . He must retrieve at whatever cost a device holding information that would unravel the murderous scheme . He takes on unscrupulous men and astute spies , being only helped by a beautiful girl , his ex-girlfriend (Brigitte Fossey) . Trapped behind the Iron Curtain the starring goes inside Berlin to find the artifact . He'll confront evil head of Stasi (Derek Jacobi) and a cunning KGB officer . Meanwhile the Soviet Politburo agent (Sam Neill) falls in love with the protagonist (Brigitte Fossey, though actress Lisa Eichhorn was originally cast in this movie but was forced to leave the film , she was replaced with Fossey), acting as a double agent.

The film has suspense , tension , emotion , mystery and specially in its final a little bit of action . Although the picture has various ingredients for entertainment , the plot is confusing and complex , screenplay has gaps and sometimes is embarrassing and absurd . The star-studded casting is important , with known international actors but for a blurred writing , they sometimes appear acting with no much sense . Fine acting by the great Martin Sheen . Martin once said of this film: "it's the best role I've had since Apocalypse Now (1979)¨. Publicity for this film stated that it was Martin Sheen's third consecutive British film in a row , the earlier films referred to were Loophole (1981) and Gandhi (1982). Good support cast such as Sam Neill who stars as a Russian KGB agent in this movie , around the time of this film, Neill was famed for playing British spy Sidney Reilly in ¨Reilly¨ (1983). Furthermore , there appears the French Michael Lonsdale , and British Derek Jacobi . Adequate cinematography , the East Berlin locations in this movie were actually filmed in the French locations of Lille in Nord and Strasbourg in the Bas-Rhin .

The film belongs to spy sub-genre developed during the cold war and its maxim representations are John LeCarre's novels adapted to cinema in films as : ¨The spy who came in from the cold¨ (by Martin Ritt), ¨Deadly Affair¨(Sidney Lumet) and ¨Russia House¨ (by Fred Schepisi with Sean Connery). The film was regularly directed by Jeannot Szwarc ; he was actually born, bred and educated in Paris and he returned to his homeland to direct this film that was completely shot in France . Actor Martin Sheen and director Szwarc prior to this film had previously worked together in American television . Jeannot's biggest successes were ¨Jaws 2¨ and ¨Somewhere in time¨ , but after his failures in ¨Supergirl¨ and ¨Santa Claus¨, he has been working for TV , in episodes as ¨Smallville¨, ¨Boston legal¨, ¨Bones¨, ¨Fringe¨ and many others . Rating : acceptable , 6 . Only for Martin Sheen fans and spy genre buffs .

Fine Actors, Blank Story Keep Up Interest

[boblipton · 6/10 · 15 July 2020]

Former spy Martin Sheen is now broadcasting for the Voice of America. His erstwhile boss offers him a major payday to switch some electronic gizmo that will give the CIA an ear into OGPU headquarters; all he has to do is head to Berlin, meet up with former lover Brigitte Fossey, evade every Stassi agent in the country and Russian spy Sam Neill.

It's one of those movies with an old-time serial feel: how's Sheen going to get out of this cliff-hanger? And why are people doing whatever it is they're doing? French locations in mid-winter and drab signs stand in for a depressing East Germany, and Jeannot Szwarc's explication-free direction doesn't pander to the audience, but keeps the movie interesting throughout.

Nice work my Sheen & Neill

[aramo1 · 6/10 · 22 May 2002]

Based on R2 DVD by EuroVideo 98 min

Direction and editing could be better as the story is occasionally confusing for no good reason, lacks tension and the ending is very abrupt. The DVD is in 4:3.

All that aside, both stars [looking very young indeed] turn in respectable performances and the locations look authentic.

6/10 a little generous but worth watching on TV

Enigmatic

[mickcsavage · 7/10 · 31 August 2022]

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...

True story badly directed and acted

[nicholls_les · 3/10 · 3 September 2019]

Since this is a true story I watched it through to the end. It is quite a dull, dreary film and most of the actors made no effort to act. Sheen, Neill and Fossey all seemed bored and made no effort to speak in the accents of the people they were portraying. Fossey looked like someone in a semi-coma through most of the film. The editing was awful, at one point Sam Neil's character appeared in three different locations within a few minutes. The bad editing made it hard to follow where you were in the story.

A dry, tedious and utterly confusing waste of celluloid

[red_phenix · 4/10 · 29 November 2008]

After receiving a DVD of this with a Sunday newspaper, I hoped that it was not the usual duff films that are given away because no one would ever buy them. I was wrong. Sheens acting is on par with that of a ten year old in a school pantomime production and the same goes for the majority of the cast. Neill is satisfactory, but plays a Russian and isn't helped by his hybrid Northern Irish/New Zealand accent, and nor are the rest of the KGB characters, all of whom sound like they're in a Cambridge Footlights reunion. In fact, the only people with genuine accents are extras who supply an odd word here and there, helpfully letting us know at least where the hell everything is going on in what is otherwise a complete mash. The "espionage" factor is unimpressive for the most part and primarily consists of Sheen faffing about in various ridiculous disguises whilst trying to blend into the background, quickly becoming not only boring but laughable. The plot has potential but is completely murdered by the rest of the confusing production elements. This could have been so much better.

A thrilling spy story, interwoven with a beautiful love story.

[Eva Ionesco · 10/10 · 4 January 2000]

Enigma is a computer part which scrambles Russian messages, so that America can't understand them. They can only be read by the intended recipient. The Americans know that the Russians are going to transmit a message revealing the plans of five political assassinations they want to carry out.

So they send in former defector Holbeck (Martin Sheen) to grab the scrambler and substitute a false part, so they'll be able to decode the message, and block the assassination attempts.

However, as we listen in on the Americans heads of the spy organisation, we find that they already have the scrambler, and they want Holbeck to try to steal Enigma, only to convince the Russians that they don't already have it. They don't expect Holbeck to succeed. That way the Russians, who had stopped transmitting with Enigma, just in case, will begin transmitting again.

Enigma is in the computer in the office of Dimitri Vasilikov. Somehow Holbeck must gain access, and in order to do that, he must find out when Vasilikov will be out. He sends in his former girlfriend Karen (Brigitte Fossey) to seduce Vasilikov, so that she can look through his papers and find out his scheduled movements. Karen is glad to do it, as they tortured her father, a university professor, to death.

Because we know that it's better for the Americans if Holbeck fails, the movie becomes even more intense as a spy thriller. We find ourselves hoping he can survive against the odds, especially as he uses ingenious methods to beat the Russians at every turn.

But what's this? Are Karen and Vasilikov falling in love? Will Holbeck win Karen back, or will she actually end up with Vasilikov? The romantic twist lifts this spy thriller, already worthy of a ten, even higher, for its originality. The writing, the direction, and the acting all combine to make this new and fascinating twist a compellingly realistic one.

You find yourself at the edge of your seat, gripping your armchair, not only for the excitement of the spy story but for the intensely beautiful romantic love story as well. The two themes are interwoven perfectly, right up to the end. You really want both sides to win. So who does win, in the end? You'll have to see the movie and find out, won't you!

Scrambled Mystery

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 10 July 2012]

In Paris, American-born East German defector and radio talk show host Martin Sheen (as Alexander "Alex" Holbeck) is recruited by the CIA to go to Berlin and steal "The Enigma Machine" which scrambles secret Cold War spy messages. This will help the US thwart the USSR's planned assassination of five defectors to the west. In East Berlin, Mr. Sheen fools the KGB with various disguises. He sprays silver in his hair, but it looks the same. Sheen seeks out former girlfriend Brigitte Fossey (as Karen Reinhardt) and she sets out to seduce their "unsophisticated but shrewd" enemy, Moscow swimmer Sam Neill (as Dimitri Vasilikov). Sheen sometimes appears bored with this confusing adaptation of a good idea. His co-stars make their final confrontation scene work well.

***** Enigma (1/28/83) Jeannot Szwarc ~ Martin Sheen, Brigitte Fossey, Sam Neill, Derek Jacobi

Mediocre

[Cristi_Ciopron · 4/10 · 22 May 2009]

This espionage melodrama has a nice, almost promising cast, and should have been very atmospheric; there is a will, or an intention of atmosphere—and also a want, or a lack of it.

Sheen plays a dissident who now activates as an agent, he is a loner, loved by women but haughty; Mrs. Fossey is his mistress. Neill plays the gallant, generous, chivalrous Soviet agent.

Sheen and Neill are both essentially annoying; Finlay does a cameo, and so do other known actors. Mrs. Fossey is hot; but then again, she always is.

I will be your true friend and break it to you—the flick is low on suspense and on excitement, it's trite and quite boring; the good thing is that you get to see Mrs. Fossey naked. Other than that, lukewarm derivative espionage exploitation.

Not based on facts

[gfvmgbtzy · 1/10 · 9 October 2023]

This film is disappointing and far from the truth. The British were not the first to break the code and failed to mention the Polish mathematicians who broke the code in 1932 and handed the British and the French the Enigma machines produced in Poland together with other mechanisms and instructions only because of the war in 1939 and the lack of funding. The fact that they also made up a story that there was a Polish spy working for the Nazis is absolutely disgusting - there were no Polish people at all working in Bletchley Park. It's ok to change the facts slightly but not to the point that it changes the history and makes one nation look bad, let alone appreciated, and makes another take all the credit.

Great acting, suspense and plot twists

[irenerose · 8/10 · 14 October 2004]

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

Slow-paced spy drama

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 21 May 2017]

ENIGMA is an under-the-radar Cold War drama of the 1980s, basically unknown to modern audiences. A youthful Martin Sheen is tasked with entering East Germany and stealing secrets from the Russians, but Sam Neill is hot on his tail and has other ideas. This is less a thriller in the BOURNE style and more a slow, deliberately paced spy drama like TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY. The moments of it I enjoyed were chiefly those featuring cast members Sheen, Neill, and an against-type Derek Jacobi as the antagonist. The likes of Michael Lonsdale, Warren Clarke, and Frank Finlay are also welcome by their presence. Where the film falls down is in the very slow pace, which saps life from the picture, and the presence of the obligatory romantic sub-plot which couldn't be less interesting.

would have given it 1 star if not for the surprisingly unexpected ending ...

[Sherparsa · 3/10 · 30 September 2017]

OK, so it was near the end of the 'golden era' of the Cold War and people, including secret agents on either side were supposed to believe the competition between the two blocks was real and they ought to fight for the freedom of capitalism on one side and the security of the labor camp on the other so either nation would keep quiet, say nothing and obey the authorities ...

but c'mon, even back in the day anyone with a little extra gray matter in their skulls would know how stupid the entire show was, thus how fake the chilling war ...

yes, there are a few good moments in the plot but long story short, if it weren't for the surprisingly unexpected good ending, i'd have given this boring movie just 1 'bad star' ...

Definition of a B-movie that abuses the talents of good actors

[steiner-sam · 4/10 · 28 July 2023]

It's a Cold War spy movie set in Paris, France, and East Berlin, Germany, in December 1981. It follows an East German dissident living in Paris recruited by the CIA for a mission in East Germany.

Alex Holbeck (Martin Sheen) is a former East German now broadcasting news from a Western perspective into East Germany. CIA agent Bodley (Michael Lonsdale) recruits him to return to East Berlin to steal an updated version of the Enigma machine used to scramble spy messages. Bodley says the CIA needs the scrambler to prevent the assassination of five dissidents on December 25.

Alex takes the assignment and seeks the help of a former girlfriend, Karen Reinhardt (Birgitte Fossey). East German intelligence knows Holbeck is on a mission, but not what he pursues. East German security assigns Kurt Limmer (Derek Jacobi) to find Holbeck, but his clumsy efforts misfire, and the Russians send in their own man, Dimitri Vasilikov (Sam Neill). "Enigma" follows Holbeck's and Reinhardt's efforts to recruit help and mislead Limmer and Vasilikov. We also learn the CIA has its own motives in the whole mission.

"Enigma" is a good definition of a B-movie that abuses the talents of good actors. The script is unbelievably bad at points, wearing down the viewer with cliché after cliché. The plot had potential, but the writing destroys any sense of reality and even makes some of the acting look terrible.

Plot does reveal an "Enigma"

[Dasomir · 8/10 · 20 April 1999]

I must admit, when I first began watching this film I had no clue what was going on. So the beginning was a bit confusing for me. However, that did not diminish my enjoyment of the movie. The characters reveal themselves to be more complex than they may first appear, and that is what makes this a memorable film. At first I heard this was a real "Hollywood" movie. Although it obviously lacks the stereotypical "guns and fists" element, the convincing performances of talented actors such as Martin Sheen and Sam Neill more than make up for it. I'd rather see a film with more substance than shooting any day.

Old fashioned Cold War spy film

[vampire_hounddog · 4/10 · 23 August 2020]

The KGB send out assassins to eliminate Soviet dissidents, criss-crossing between East Germany and the USSR.

A rather forgettable Cold War spy thriller with a decent cast, but the film never really gets going.

Great thriller!

[jackieblues · 10/10 · 14 August 2001]

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!

a smart, darkly atmospheric, engagingly adult spy thriller that more than merits a revisit!

[Weirdling_Wolf · 8/10 · 20 February 2023]

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).

Mission impossible in celebration of Christmas in East Berlin

[clanciai · 8/10 · 9 August 2023]

Martin Sheen is the hero and Sam Neill is the villain, the cowboy and the cossack. Who will win this spying game in East Berlin behind the wall of the Cold War, all filmed in Lille and Strasbourg apart from some scenes in Paris? The story is very contrived and improbable, as if the whole idea of the film was to make it as enigmatic and mysterious as possible, as no one could possible get the hang of all these constructed technical details of early computer technique, while at least there is a woman who makes this muddled hide-and-seek story human, by adding some romanticism in spite of all this Cold War dreariness. Sam Neill actually wins the prize as the better actor, and his character is more interesting and human, while Martin Sheen is just efficient. Derek Jacobi plays third fiddle and is lost in the general confusion of occupation of embassies, fires in the cultural centre and total rebellion and uproar in a mental hospital, which is the most impressive scene of the film. Brigitte Fossey is lovely and delicate and does what she has to do, and she loves them both, and both deserve it.