Directed by:
Morten TyldumScreenplay:
Graham MooreCinematography:
Oscar FauraComposer:
Alexandre DesplatCast:
Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Allen Leech, Matthew Beard, Charles Dance, Mark Strong, James Northcote, Tom Goodman-Hill (more)VOD (3)
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During the winter of 1952, British authorities entered the home of mathematician, cryptanalyst and war hero Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) to investigate a reported burglary. They instead ended up arresting Turing himself on charges of 'gross indecency', an accusation that would lead to his devastating conviction for the criminal offense of homosexuality - little did officials know, they were actually incriminating the pioneer of modern-day computing. Famously leading a motley group of scholars, linguists, chess champions and intelligence officers, he was credited with cracking the so-called unbreakable codes of Germany's World War II Enigma machine. An intense and haunting portrayal of a brilliant, complicated man, The Imitation Game follows a genius who under nail-biting pressure helped to shorten the war and, in turn, save millions of lives. (Roadshow Entertainment)
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A beautiful and properly crafted depiction of one rather fundamental event that took place in the middle of Britain during the desolate period of World War II. Practically everything is great about it... despite the fact that encryption and Enigma have never appeared in any major interesting films that would be worth remembering and would not be boring. But along came Morten Tyldum and changed everything, along with the absolutely amazing Benedict Cumberbatch, who once again proved how great an actor he is and that Britain should consider him its national treasure. In any case, Keira Knightley is also unusually beautiful here, and I was also pleased with Charles Dance, who definitely deserves more roles in big films in his old age. Anyway, I would divide the film itself into two parts. That is, before the deciphering and after it, as before the deciphering, the suspense is on a completely different level. In terms of duration, the second part is a bit shorter. On the other hand, it is much more intense and at that moment the real emotions come. At that moment, I also realize that Alexandre Desplat’s soundtrack is fantastic. If there are any flaws in this movie then I didn’t notice them. I’d wish for Alan to meet a better end, but unfortunately that’s life for you. Especially at those times…
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An impressive piece of craftsmanship where weaknesses are hard to find. But that's probably because in a biopic of this calibre that from the beginning aspire to get golden statuettes, mistakes are not allowed. The film is admittedly a very cold, emotionally detached account of a significant period in the life of its equally cold, brilliant hero, who comes across as overly mechanical thanks to the performance of master Cumberbatch, who goes through the entire story with the unchanging expression of a "mathematical nerd", but at the same time it’s an extremely honest, sympathetically old-fashioned genre film that fulfils almost all the prescribed cinematic formulas, including that of Cumberbatch's speech, for there is probably no more believable portrayal of a mathematical nerd. But praise is also due to Alexandre Desplat, the set and costume designers, and especially Mr Turing himself, whose greatness, thanks to this film, I can no longer doubt. 80%
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Turing's Pure Soul that pays special attention to the (least) interesting aspects of his destinies (and when it pays special attention it is done in the style of cliché advertising like "when he goes, we also go" or "hurray" etc.) to sideline the most important and disproportionately interesting events which is strange. As a result, Cumberbatch's performance is particularly interesting. Not so much the performance itself (though this too) as in the context of his crucial roles, when after having performed characters of Hawking, Sherlock and Assange, this is already the fourth time when he plays similar role on paper, the archetype of the role of a "odd duck" genius, without in any way (or just a gesture) repeat the same performance over and over again.
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I cannot criticize anything significant about the film, and, in fact, I found it appealing from beginning to end and the writer and director managed to extract the maximum from the material offered. Let's face it, solving ciphers can be the basis for an exciting novel, but a gripping film needs more than just a view of a group of scientists pondering at a desk and solving complex equations. Benedict Cumberbatch handled the role of a quirky genius with homosexual tendencies very well, as expected. The film also doesn't shy away from the moral dilemmas associated with deciding what price is still worth paying to maintain a crucial secret for victory in the war. Overall impression: 85%.
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Although the story is shot according to a mostly traditional (not to be confused with average) biopic template, thanks to the fantastic actors, great production design, direction, music by Alexandre Desplat and atmosphere, it is easy to forgive a lot of things. The supremely convincing Benedict Cumberbatch should have been given some sort of patent for his oddball roles by now, as great as he is, but the charismatic Mark Strong and Charles Dance don't stay in his shadow and Keira Knightley is more than a mere decoration. It was successful.
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