Enigma (1983)

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

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

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 .

Based on R2 DVD by EuroVideo 98 minDirection 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

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!