In a year of many biographical films, one has cracked the code for delivering touching, unforgettable material. The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, brings to theatres an emotionally raw, powerful and heartbreaking film which tackles the themes of homosexuality, the costs of war and the treatment of people who are different.
The Imitation Game is set in three time settings in Britain: in 1929, the WWII years of 1939-1945 and the early 1950s. Most of the first half of the movie follows Turing in his attempts to break the German Enigma encryption machine, a device which can hide German messages in one of 159 million million million combinations, which the Germans used to hide all of their communications. He is aided by a small team of chess champions, other mathematicians and cryptologists and later seeks the aide of Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley), a smart and talented woman, as his special helper. Turing begins to design a machine to decrypt every German code, although he is not supported by his team members in the beginning. Later, however, he wins them over and with their help he cracks the Enigma code.
Undoubtedly, the star of this movie is Benedict Cumberbatch. With his extraordinary performance as Turing, he adds the life spirit to The Imitation Game. His portrayal of a genius who has a profound knowledge of his subject of study, but not so much so of social interactions, adds most of the humor into the movie, which can be found in staccato bursts as Turing’s attempts to make friends with his co-workers, or simply go to lunch with them. His stony, serious attitude mixed with the sardonic humor and sarcasm of those around him force a laugh every now and then. On the flip side, Turing’s great intelligence makes him a formidable subject, as seen in the interrogation scene in the second half of the movie. It is here that he unleashes his anger on the prejudice against homosexuals, quietly and yet powerfully with irrefutable arguments and afterwards he speaks out with this line: “So…am I machine? Am I human? Am I a war hero? A criminal?”
Later in the movie, Cumberbatch is touching and heartbreaking as he portrays the final days of Alan Turing. It is here for the last time that he crosses paths with his old partner, Joan Clarke and this last meeting truly shows how badly Turing has deteriorated, partly due to his mandated medication. Whereas before, Turing was shown running, he is now frail and weak and because of tremors in his hands, he can no longer work on the crossword puzzles he once loved. The one thing he has not given up is his love for machines and it is here that the audience figures out why he has named his machine.
However, it is not just Cumberbatch that makes the movie shine. The script was excellently written (however, the split plot becomes hard to follow, as the time stamp accompanying the change of scenes disappears after a while) and it touches on many issues still controversial today, such as AI and homosexuality. The cinematography was also of paramount quality, with three separate color schemes accompanying each time scene, as well as occasional bursts of real war footage, which was perhaps the only glimpse the audience had of the much larger conflict occurring at the same time as the smaller scale Enigma project. Alexandre Desplat delivered with a score done in his classic clandestine style: a light, recurring leitmotif, gentle and yet haunting, pensive and deep, mixed with modern synthetic elements to create a unique soundscape linking the movie’s theme with the classical movie standard.
Although there has been some criticism of the movie’s factual details, especially the depth of Turing’s relationship with Joan Clarke, most reviews of this movie have been overwhelmingly positive. Rotten Tomatoes rates the movie at 90% positive, and IMDb rates it at an 8.2 out of 10. Much of the movie’s praise has been directed towards Benedict Cumberbatch’s outstanding performance, although the filming, directing, screenplay, and soundtrack have all received compliments.
