The Imitation Game (2014)

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The Imitation Game (2014)

7/10

Starring

Benedict Cumberbatch

Keira Knightley

Matthew Goode

Directed by Morten Tyldum

Breaking the Enigma code the Germans used in World War II, was a great feat. If not for that success the millions of life that would have been lost during the war would have be chaotic. Alan Turing’s work will go down in the records as the beginning of the now computers. He was not that much celebrated during the 1940s and early 50s due to the British hiding the machine he created with the Hut 8 team and his homosexual convictions later on (Turing was pardoned by Queen Elizabeth II in 2013), which led to his eventual suicide.

Notwithstanding we still owe him and his Hut 8 team a lot, for saving the world from Hitler’s killings and take over the world campaign.

The film is loosely based on the biography Alan Turing: The Enigma written by Andrew Hodges in 1983, and it is magnificent. The Imitation Game was a commercial (making over $219 million from a $14 million production budget) and critical success, it is thrilling and exciting as you watch Hut 8 work hard trying to crack the German coded messages.

The screenplay topped the annual Black List for best unproduced Hollywood scripts in 2011 and won the Best Adapted Screenplay in the 87th Academy Awards (the only award it won)

Benedict Cumberbatch was in a realm of his own in this film, delivering such a magnificent role that I believe he will be remembered for in the years to come. Not much of a fan of Keira Knightley, but here I really appreciated her performance. Another person to look out for is Matthew Goode, his acting and portrayal of a high intellectual cryptanalyst and chess player was great.

The movie starts with the break-in at the home of the mathematician, Turing. Then develops to a nonlinear story, starting with the two officers investigating Turing's break-in in 1951, where they suspected his behavior as a spy. The movie then goes back to Alan's days in school where he met a friend Christopher who got him interested in cryptography. We move from there to Alan's time at Bletchley Park.

At Bletchley Park, Alan led a team of men and lady, Joan Clarke to build a machine which will crack the German code as they were intercepted.

The movie is very inaccurate about many things including the events surrounding the development of the machine and even Alan Turing himself. Hollywood didn’t want to make a movie about a nice easy going guy who gets along well with his team to make a machine to crack the German code. They rather have him be weirdo and a loner.

Great movie all the same.