Deciphering Hidden Messages in the Background of War

Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing in "The Imitation Game"

This season, we’ve had two biopics that each tell a story of a famous British figure.  One of those was James Marsh’s “The Theory of Everything,” which detailed the marriage of renowned physicist Stephen Hawking to Jane Wilde.  The second one is Morten Tyldum’s “The Imitation Game,” which tells the remarkable true story of cryptanalyst and computer scientist Alan Turing and the breaking of the Nazis’ Enigma code.  With his film, Tyldum brings forth an interesting look at the workings of Enigma and the life of Turing.

During World War II, death and destruction are sweeping across Europe.  As England enters the war, its government wants to do whatever it can to ensure the defeat of the Nazis.  The country’s secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park soon recruits Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) and a team of scholars to help crack the Nazis’ seemingly unbreakable code.  After some time at the school, Turing begins to build a computer-like device that can decode Nazi messages more efficiently.  During his work, however, Turing will face some animosity from both his employers and his team.

Benedict Cumberbatch wonderfully portrays the many aspects of Turing’s character, such as his shyness, persnickety nature, standoffishness, and cleverness.  It’s a performance that is beautifully fascinating to watch because of how he conveys the intelligence of his character, but is also equally devastating when you see what local law-enforcement did in response to discovering his homosexuality, which they viewed as indecent.  With Cumberbatch’s considerable acting talent, seeing him portray Turing is like watching a genius at work, just like Turing with his code-breaking. 

The screenplay by Graham Moore, which is based on Andrew Hodges biography, “Alan Turing: The Enigma,” interestingly goes through three different timelines to tell the story of Turing and flesh out his character.  We have the main story of him at the Cypher School during World War II; scenes of him as a teenager in a boarding school; and scenes of him in the ‘50s being interrogated at a police station.  Each of these story lines contributes considerably to giving us an idea of Turing’s character before, during, and after the war, with all of them linking thematically to each other.

Director Graham Moore makes this film into a thoroughly interesting historical drama and thriller.  The performances he gets from his cast reliably deliver in the movie’s more emotional moments, and the scenes of the team trying to decipher the hidden messages provide terrific tension.  

Similar to “The Theory of Everything,” which is another awards-contending British biopic, this film does have some Oscar-bait moments.  Luckily, the splendid work from the cast and the intriguing historical account save it from being overshadowed by this flaw.

“The Imitation Game” is an admirably detailed story of Alan Turing and the contributions he made towards combatting the Nazis, and this film is a great opportunity to learn about him.

Final grade: A-