When you see a trailer for a film on YouTube, and you have a chance to use that skip button, there is a good chance you’re going to click it. However when the trailer for The Imitation Game appeared on my screen, this was something I had to see through to the end. So on Wednesday afternoon, at precisely 2.15pm, I headed off to the cinema expecting brilliant things, and I am pleased to say I wasn’t disappointed.
The Imitation Game focuses on the life on Alan Turing, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, a British mathematician who comes together with a team of other highly intelligent, skilled codebreakers to try and crack the impossible code; The Enigma Machine.
I will admit that going into the film, whilst I know a very limited amount about The Enigma Machine, and have of course studied about World War II, I know next to nothing about Alan Turing; by the end of the film, I considered him to be a war hero.
The Imitation Game concentrates on three specific parts of Turing’s life; his troubled teenage years at boarding school, his triumph deciphering of The Enigma code (SPOILER ALERT!) and his post-war decline as a convicted criminal. At this point, I would like to congratulate the brilliance of Alex Lawther, the actor who plays the younger version of Alan Turing at boarding school. His performance is incredible, and I’m sure we will see him in many more high profile roles in the future.
Right then, back to the film. The cast, featuring the likes of Charles Dance, Mark Strong and as I mentioned earlier, Keira Knightley, all play their parts fantastically during the film, but the stand out performance is the work of Benedict Cumberbatch. His portrayal of Turing both during the war, and his subsequent decline, make you feel both incredibly proud of the work he did, followed by feelings of anger that a war hero was treated that way.
The original codebreakers were based at Bletchley Park, a rather grand mansion based in Milton Keynes. The site is now open for tourists to visit, but was used for the filming of The Imitation Game. Some of those shots of the building are beautiful, and it brings an extra level of authenticity to the motion picture.
And I’m not the only one who thinks this is a bloody good film. At several of the film festivals it has been shown at, they have rewarded it with very prestigious awards. The most impressive of the 9 awards is the “People’s Choice Award for Best Film” at the Toronto International Film Festival. This means it is now grouped with films such as Slumdog Millionaire, The King’s Speech, Silver Linings Playbook and 12 Years A Slave, all of which went on to win Oscars.
Not only has the film been received positively by critics, but the Turing family have also approved it. In an interview to BBC Radio Manchester, his surviving niece and nephew praise the work of both the film, and the individual performance of Cumberbatch.
Final Thought – 5/5
It is one of the best British films I have seen in a long time, and confirms the fantastic acting ability of its leading man. I am almost certain that this will be picking up more awards, and I didn’t need Turing’s codebreaking machine to work that one out…
So now I talked about it for long enough, I want to hear from you! What did you think of Cumberbatch’s codebreaking caper? Let me know in the comments below or by tweeting your thoughts to @JackDFielder
Fielder's Thoughts 