The Imitation Game (2014) (English Language)

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114min

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Charles Dance …more

Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing, the legendary British mathematician and wartime code-breaker who helped to end World War II and save millions of lives and in the process become the father of modern computing and artificial intelligence, but this glory was never to be celebrated in his lifetime as Turing was marginalised for his sexual orientation and ultimately lived a tragic and short life.

‘The Imitation Game’ has all the elements to make it a hit with both audiences and award show voters in the upcoming season, no doubt it will be as strong a contender in multiple categories at the Academy Awards which loves British period dramas.

Unlike most of the nominated British films of recent years though this piece from Norwegian director Morten Tyldum would deserve the recognition if not the wins, the story is engaging and inextricably linked to modern day western society and that path we took to arrive here.

The core strength of the film is the central performance from Benedict Cumberbatch, it is tough to determine whether his portrayal of Turing’s character is accurate but what we get from it is a fascinating look into the psychology of a genius, a man ahead of his time who was socially inept and obsessive, and because of society’s standards at the time regarding sexuality was ultimately isolated and completely alone.

The film is not without its faults however, it is at times predictable and the tension, drama and levity all come exactly how and when you expect, there is also a distinct lack of daring in terms of Turing’s sexuality. ‘The Imitation Game’ is however an interesting character drama about “the outsider” in the context of extraordinary times, there is no happy ending and the film is not wrapped up in a bow, in the end there is only the truth and how we decide to deal with it.