filmreviews/feature
Not all it’s Desert cracked up to be ENIGMA Starring: Kate Winslet, Dougray Scott, Jeremy Northam, Saffron Burrows Dir: Michael Apted 15, 119 mins
I
magine, if you will, trying to divide a restaurant bill for £52.43 between seven and a half people. No mean feat. But now imagine trying to do it if the bill had been worked out by Cambridge University’s most senior wranglers, translated into High German and sent to your table via Morse Code. Even if you can get your head round that you’re nowhere near the standard of mental gymnastics going on in Enigma. Based on Robert Harris’ novel of the same name – which, for a book with embossed type on the cover, is actually rather good – Enigma uses World War II’s Bletchley Park as a backdrop for a tale of love lost and found, international intrigue and enough covert activity to make your average secret agent look like one of the Chuckle Brothers. Bletchley Park, for those of you who dropped history, was a centre for Allied intelligence – particularly breaking Nazi codes – and its activities were the most closely guarded part of the British war effort. It’s inevitable then, that the fictional events superimposed on Bletchley concern themselves largely with the hunt for a traitor within the midsts of the codebreakers. In addition, however, there’s the disappearance of a glamourous young clerk to solve and a convoy of ships in the midAtlantic to save before a pack of German UBoats attack. Central to all these events is Tom Jericho (Dougray Scott), a troubled genius who not only has a very personal interest in the fate
of the missing Claire Romilly (Saffron Burrows) but is the only man capable of breaking a new Nazi code. Scott’s portrayal of a man wracked by doubt, guilt and personal demons is excellent and is the perfect foil for Jeremy Northam’s waspish Wigram – the man charged with finding the Bletchley spy. As the dowdy Hester Wallace, Kate Winslet displays the sort of sturdy British pluck that apparently kept everyone smiling as the bombs rained down but her character, although vitally important, seems a little under-used. It would have been nice to have learned a little more about the actual Enigma machine and its workings – something the book explains in great detail – but, for the sake of bringing the film in at under two hours, much of this has been abandoned in favour of amateur sleuthing by Wallace and Jericho. The highlights of the film are undoubtedly the codebreaking sequences – the tension is palpable as a group of eccentrics and academics try to break impossible ciphers to save the lives of countless seamen. The rest of the film falls a little flat compared to these scenes – maybe because all the time you know that this frantic code-cracking actually happened. It’s not surprising that Enigma sometimes feels like a Merchant Ivory Bond film, director Michael Apted’s last project was the run-of-the-mill The World Is Not Enough and John Barry has provided the score. Tom Stoppard’s screenplay, however, captures the essence of the novel with a refreshing minimalism and, while neatly tying together the multiple strands of the story, is labyrinthine enough to keep you guessing. Charlotte Martyn
Deaths Dir: Kinji Fukasaku 18, 120 mins
B
ILLED BY the media as a cross between Lord Of The Flies and The Running Man, Battle Royale is the story of a post millennium Japan, caught in a wave of unemployment and unrest, and with the mass student boycotting of school, the government institutes a law requiring a class of schoolchildren to be sent to a deserted island once a year to fight to the death. For those people interested in a gorefest, there’s plenty of mindless killing with big sharp blades and submachine guns, and even some mindful killing, with some well-thought-out action scenes. One nice touch is an onscreen tally of the body count that pops up every time someone dies. But beyond the gore is a deeper social commentary. Along the same lines as Lord of The Flies, that anyone can become a savage if it suits them. It’s just that in this film everything has been speeded up and compressed to keep the attention of the MTV generation. Although it does share many common points with William Golding’s GCSE English classic, one of the interesting and original aspects that this film investigates is the interplay between the sexes. As the number of classmates dwindles, the question of sexual equality is not really looked into, as the
Jim: Apple pie, huh? Chris: Uh huh. Jim: McDonald’s or homemade?
The Daily Telegraph are currently running a promotion whereby if you buy two copies of their paper and take along the mastheads from both to the Union Shop then you get two free tickets to an advanced preview of American Pie 2 this Wednesday. To celebrate this fact (and because we needed to fill some space) we have some classic quotes from a few teen comedies. JONATHAN STEVEN whacks out a fresh apple pie and finds a few funnies . . .
Jim's Dad: I have to admit, you know, I did the fair bit of [hesitates] masturbating when I was a little younger. I used to call it stroking the salami, yeah, you know, pounding the old pud. [pauses again] I never did it with baked goods, but you know your uncle Mort, he pets the oneeyed snake 5-6 times a day.
Meet the Parents
Jim: She’s gone! Oh my God, she used me. I was used. I was used! Cool!
Jack: Well, Greg, when you have a bunch of Fockers running around your house, you'll feel the need for security.
Jack: His parents gotta be decent people if they named their son Gaylord Focker.
Greg Focker: You can milk just about anything with nipples. Jack: [Pause] I have nipples, Greg, could you milk me?
Greg: The only way that I would ever let go of my bag would be if you came over here right now and tried to pry it from my dead, lifeless fingers, okay? If you can get it from my kung-fu
GRiP
Island
BATTLE ROYALE Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto, Masanobu Ando
Winning Lines
Jack: I understand you may have had sexual relations with my daughter before, but under our roof, it’s my way or the Long Island Expressway! So just keep your snake in its cage for 72 hours.
06
grip, then you can come and have it, okay? Otherwise, step off, bitch.
American Pie Stifler: I say, why don't you guys locate your dicks, remove the shrink wrap, and fucking USE them! Jim: You realize we're all going to go to college as virgins. They probably have special dorms for people like us. Victoria: I want it to be the right time, the right place... Jessica: It’s not a space shuttle launch, it's SEX. Jim: Guys, uh, what exactly does third base feel like? Kevin: You want to take this one? Chris “Oz” Ostreicher: Like warm apple pie. Jim: Yeah? Chris: Yeah.
Stifler's Mom: I got some scotch. Finch: Single malt? Stifler's Mom: Aged eighteen years. The way I like it. Michelle: And this one time, at band camp, I stuck a flute in my pussy. Jim: [Choking on his beer] Excuse me? Michelle: What, you don't think I know how to get myself off? Hell, that's what half of band camp is... sex-ed! So, are we gonna screw soon? 'Cause I'm getting kinda antsy. Michelle: What's my name? SAY MY NAME, BITCH!
Road Trip Rubin: This is kind of an unusual request, but do you have any marijuana I might be able to buy from you? You see, our car exploded
two sexes keep mostly separate. The ways in which they go about deciding who they can and cannot trust is well observed, and is one of the more insightful elements of the film. Due to the large ensemble cast (at the start there are 41 children in the class) and unfamiliar names, the film is at times difficult to follow. Although the use of subtitles is, in my opinion, always superior to the use of dubbing in serious films (the two versions of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon being an example of this) the translation is at times a little stilted, and this does mean that you often miss some of the more subtle imagery whilst concentrating on reading the dialogue. As the film reaches its climax, the film becomes more chilling with each passing minute, as the number of combatants dwindles. The end of the film, in giving the inevitable moral to the story, does leave a little to be desired, and it almost feels as if the film is one scene too long. Although the violence is at times harrowing, and the subtitling makes it important to give it your full attention, overall this film offers an enjoyable afternoon’s viewing. It is an interesting and sometimes disturbing look into the perceived ills of Japanese society that also works well as an ultra-violent action film. Dave Pothecary
yesterday and I'm almost out of my own. Motel Clerk: [short pause] I'm not a drug dealer. No, I'm not. Thank you for asking. Rubin: OK. Motel Clerk: Anything else? Perhaps you'd like an 11-year-old prostitute delivered to your room? We CAN do that. Or maybe you'd like us to off someone for you. Or why don't we just start simple? Would you like a fresh towel? Maybe you can roll that up and smoke it. Oh hey, Cheech! That credit card you guys gave me last night was maxed out so don't go spending all your cash on needles and guns. Dog: Hey Jack, have that bitch make me some blueberry pancakes...right now! Rubin: A short cut is supposed to be hard otherwise it would be called the way. Kyle: It's not cheating if you rub peanut butter on your testicles and let your dog lick it off. E.L.: We're in college now; the opportunity to drink alcohol, do drugs, and take advantage of young girls is getting smaller and smaller by the day.
Barry: Have you come for the feeding? You’re early. You should come tomorrow, its going to be a blood bath… Unleash the furry Mitch, UNLEASH THE FURRY. Rubin: You realise this is a national black fraternity? They know you’re lying.
08.10.01