Enigma (2001 Film)

Enigma (2001 film)

Enigma is a 2001 British film about the Enigma codebreakers of Bletchley Park in World War II. The film was directed by Michael Apted with a screenplay by Tom Stoppard, based on the novel Enigma by Robert Harris. This was the final film to be scored by John Barry.

In 1943 amid the largest convoy deployment from the US to Britain, cryptanalyst and brilliant mathematician Tom Jericho (Dougray Scott) returns to Bletchley Park to help the codebreaking team reacquire their ability to read U-Boats' Enigma communications. Obsessed with his missing former girlfriend Claire (Saffron Burrows), he and Claire's roommate Hester (Kate Winslet), all employed at Bletchley, work on unraveling the mystery of Claire's disappearance. Although the story is highly fictionalized, the process of encrypting German messages during WWII and decrypting them with the Enigma is discussed in detail, and the historical event of the Katyn Massacre is highlighted.

The film was co-produced by Mick Jagger, who provided funding for the film, as well as access to his own Enigma machine. It was shot in England, Scotland and the Netherlands. Critical reviews were largely positive, although there was criticism of the largely fictional storyline which does not mention the real codebreaker Alan Turing, nor give due credit to the Polish cryptanalysis foundation Cipher Bureau.