The Imitation Game

Benedicit Cumberbatch brilliantly plays Alan Turing the English math genius and cryptanalyst who with a few men and a women changed the course of World War II. This is a great true story that modern day geeks can appreciate and Turing’s life makes fascinating drama. Turing was insufferable, but he was indispensable. He was humorless but inadvertently funny. He was not a people person. He was as good reading human emotions as Ray Charles was reading the morning paper.

Cumberbatch powerfully conveys Turing’s arrogance, loneliness, apprehension and fears. Turing was a man ahead of his time to the consternation naval intelligence and MI6 who could not grasp his genius. He was unorthodox and did not care for protocol or chain of command. Turing was not of their class but his intellect out ranked them. He was committed more to himself than King and country. Cumberbatch plays this emotional tightrope with drama. Burdened with impossible deadlines, fighting for material and personal, mostly without his superior’s support, these conflicts and resolution drive the movie.

Turing and his crew where trying to decipher the unbreakable Enigma code used by the Nazis. The codes changed every day and possible combinations were in the millions of millions. Turing took an unorthodox approach to break the code putting him at odds with his handlers. He broke away from conventional code deciphering instead using a machine he invented. Cumberbatch is very passionate in these scenes. His frustration at the narrow mindedness of his superiors is tangible.

Turing was gay and being gay in England then was a punishable offense. He kept his sexual preference secret, not out of shame but to avoid blackmail or prison. Turing deified society and willingly engaged in his homosexual affairs, but was deeply afraid of the consequences to himself and his work. This seesaw battle between who he wants to be and who he has to be torments him.

Keira Knightley is Joan Clarke the female code breaker.  Clarke is unequivocally confident, firmly resisting the push to the secretarial pool for her seat at the table with Turing. Her mathematical prowess impressed Turing. They liked each other; their relationship was more than plutonic and was complicated. Knightley did not overplay this role. She was very sincere for her affection to Turing.  Knightly and Cumberbatch had great chemistry.

Another character of note is Mark Strong who played Maj. Gen. Stewart Menzies, the MI6 liaison (one of the characters said, “there is no MI6 only MI5. To which Strong relies, “then we are keeping our secrets well”). He is so British he is almost brittle. He is Turing’s nemeses and champion, depending what he wants. He represents the government and the ends to which it will go to win.

Flash backs are like a pinch of salt, less is best. They are done right here. They augment the narrative at the right time and explain the present using the past. Here the flash backs concern Turing’s public school days where he was subjected to cruelties and where a great loving friendship blossomed.

Turing was truly a tragic figure, a label surely he would reject. The West owes him a great debt of gratitude for his contributions. His inventions were called Turing Machines. Now we call them computers.