‘The Imitation Game’ - an alternative review

This year’s BFI London Film Festival kicked off with gala premiere The Imitation Game, the winner of the People’s Choice Award winner at Toronto Film Festival this September. Usually a very reliable predictor of Oscar success, with previous winners such as 12 Years A Slave, Silver Linings Playbook and The King’s Speech all going on to achieve further awards success, it is safe to say that director Morten Tyldum’s expertly crafted tale of Alan Turing and his team of mathematicians cracking enigma during WW2 will be dining at all the top tables this awards season.

The Imitation Game tells the story of Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) leading a renegade team of code breakers to break German communication efforts in a race against time, but actually gives the audience much more than a simple narrative of English wartime efforts. The film examines the key periods of Turing’s life, such as his unhappy childhood and stint at boarding school, his time at Bletchely helping the government crack Enigma, up to the later stages of his life and eventual post-war decline, to give the audience a fully encompassing story of Turing’s life. These highs and lows are perfectly portrayed by Cumberbatch, whose performance is remarkably layered and nuanced. He brings a variety of emotions to the role, with the film’s lighter moments especially funny yet remarkably subtle, and the middle stages of the film show the genuine wholeheartedness bordering on arrogance with which he believes in his own ability. Cumberbatch deserves significant credit for this – the scenes where he is being interviewed for one of the chief jobs at Bletchley is especially memorable for his quick yet almost nonchalant wit.

This is not the first time the topic of Enigma has been covered, with 2001’s film of the same name starring Kate Winslet focusing more on the war effort than Turing himself. But this is The Imitation Game’s chief strength – sufficiently covering the war narrative but also providing the viewer with a comprehensive overview of Turing across the whole of his lifespan. His relationship with fellow code breaker Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley) is of particular interest, revealing a side to the man that it wasn’t evident existed given his passion bordering on obsession for the Enigma effort, and the chemistry between Knightley and Cumberbatch is one of the film’s main successes. Their relationship encompasses both the professional and personal, from her employment as a key member of his team up to when he proposes to her after learning her parents have demanded she return home. Knightley’s well-rounded performance deserves praise; her delicate portrayal of Joan shows her as an extremely intellectual woman, yet one who also has this vixen-quality about her, which is most evident in the trips Turing and his team take to the pub to unwind from their day’s work.

Turing’s story resurfaced in the media in 2013 after he was granted a posthumous royal pardon, so it is fitting that his incredible life is given the big screen treatment. Cumberbatch was interviewed on the red carpet yesterday evening, referring to Turing as a national hero, and The Imitation Game succeeds at bringing the man’s aura to an audience unaware of exactly what he did.