Film pick no puzzle for 'Enigma' director
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor
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| Director Michael Apted's latest release, "Enigma," focuses on British code-breaking efforts during World War II.
Columbia Pictures 'Enigma' Opening today The Art House at Restaurant Row R (for language, brief nudity) |
"I finished mine two years ago, and was long done before 'Windtalkers' started filming," said Apted. Now comes his "Enigma," originally shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2001, debuting today at the Art House at Restaurant Row.
"It's slightly annoying to me ... but finding a distributor delayed our project," said Apted, 61. The historical film, distributed by Manhattan Pictures, generally is being touted as an art-house venture.
The source is a Robert Harris best seller, adapted for the screen by Tom Stoppard. The title refers to coded Nazi communications that British mathematicians mastered at a country retreat named Bletchley Park.
"I don't know if that's good or bad, but I've always wanted to do a movie on World War II. I was born during it, my father served in it," said the British filmmaker in a telephone interview from his Los Angeles base. "I regard the war as a great period in English history, one that brought out the courage of the military. I did not want to do a combat film, in the trenches.
"I found this piece of material that gives a whole new spin on heroism, and to do it was sort of a gift. The fact is, not many knew or know about the Enigma machine, and the challenge was to provide a glimpse at history while also trying to entertain."
The movie unreels like a historical suspense drama with a bit of romance.
The challenge was to maintain the mystique of the encryption machine without befuddling viewers.
In the aftermath of Sept. 11, Apted said that a story of fighting a war with intelligence "rings a peculiarly resonant note. The nation is spending billions trying to develop intelligence. It's clear that codes have their place in winning a war. It's a new twist on fighting a war."
He said he solicited a British cast to maintain a certain integrity to his storytelling, including Dougray Scott (as mathematician Tom Jericho), along with Kate Winslet (as Hester Wallace), Saffron Barrows (as Claire Romilly) and Jeremy Northam (as Wigram).
The movie was co-produced by the unlikely pair of Mick Jagger (the Rolling Stone) and Lorne Michaels (the "Saturday Night Live" creator) who wound up partners after both were in a bidding war for the screen rights to "Enigma."
Jagger, said Apted, has long been fascinated with the Enigma device and, in fact, owns one.
Apted, who directed the recent Jennifer Lopez thriller "Enough," and the last James Bond adventure "The World Is Not Enough," gained acclaim with his first American film, "Coal Miner's Daughter." He since has carved out a career in both feature films ("Gorillas in the Mist," "Gorky Park," "Nell") and television documentaries (A&E's "Marriage in America," and "7 Up," "21 Up," "28 Up," "35 Up" and "42 Up" in Britain).
He also will direct a Rolling Stones documentary destined for television, based on the band's latest tour. That project is expected later this year.
"The documentary ties in with the Stones' 40th anniversary," said Apted, who added that the film will be released while Jagger and company are on tour "so that the documentary supports the tour. I spent a week in Paris and Toronto, rehearsing and building the sets, before the Stones go around the world for the next two years."
Told that there wasn't yet a Hawai'i stop for the Stones, Apted said, "Did they do well there in the past? I'll put in a good word for you."
