World War II · Film · 2001
Enigma
In March 1943 a brilliant codebreaker returns to Bletchley Park after a breakdown to find that the U-boats have changed their cipher and the woman he loved has vanished.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 2 places.
Stop 1: Bletchley Park
Key location
Jericho races to break the new U-boat code while secretly investigating the stolen intercepts hidden by his missing lover.
Stop 2: North Atlantic convoy route
Far out at sea, a convoy of dozens of ships from America steams toward a wolfpack that nobody can locate.
What really happened
Based on Robert Harris's novel and scripted by Tom Stoppard, the film is set during a real crisis. In February 1942 the U-boats adopted a four-rotor Enigma, codenamed Shark, blinding Bletchley for ten months until codebooks seized from U-559 let the codebreakers back in. In March 1943 a change of weather codebook caused another scare just as wolfpacks attacked convoys HX 229 and SC 122, sinking 22 ships.
Tom Jericho and the missing Claire are fictional, and the film leaves out Alan Turing and most of the real Hut 8 team. Its subplot about the Katyn massacre of Polish officers reflects real events: Germany announced the discovery of the graves in April 1943, and the British government long kept silent about Soviet guilt.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- Enigma
- Directed by
- Michael Apted
- Countries
- United Kingdom, United States, Netherlands, Germany
- Languages
- English
- Released
- 2001
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Atlantic & Arctic, Western Europe
- Themes
- Espionage
