Movie Review: The Imitation Game
Happy New Year, everyone!
After months of agonizing waiting and trying to ignore other people’s reviews, I fiiiiiinally got to see The Imitation Game!!! The theater were in was sold out and had a line out the door (we had to stand in the cold to get tickets!), and even though we arrived very early, we had to sit on the third row because the theater was so full. Whoa, so much interest in this film!
I’m glad about the interest in this film because I’ve met so few people who’ve even heard of Alan Turing. It’s very depressing. I myself had only heard of the Turing test, and that only because of Bladerunner-connecting that idea to the fact that Turing was a real, breathing person who was so dynamic in ending World War II didn’t come until I read that Benedict Cumberbatch was taking this role. Yet again, Benedict is instrumental in my education. :) Hopefully at the very least this movie will raise awareness and appreciation of his history.
Benedict is surrounded by a wonderful cast: Kiera Knightley in particular is fantastic as Joan Clarke, especially in the later scenes. In her last scene where she realizes the extent of what Britain has done to Turing, you can see the dawning panic and horror in her eyes, and it’s so real. I would have loved to learn more about her background, like how she became a mathematician while living under her strict parents. But what we’re given is really compelling, a model of how institutionalized sexism hurts everyone.
Mark Strong, Charles Dance, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Allen Leech are all solid as ever. My second-favorite scene was probably the one in which Mark Strong’s character, Stewart Menzies, and Turing discuss Soviet spies and he pulls the rug out from under Turing with his revelations. (Obviously my favorite scene was the “Heil Hitler!” one.)
Alex Lawther is a revelation as young Alan Turing (and would make a fair teen!Sherlock, as well!). The scene where he is told about Christopher’s death was so haunting.
And then there’s Benedict Cumberbatch, whom I think is the only person on earth able to play this role so convincingly. Seriously, who else could possibly do this? His body language, his speech patterns, everything screams accuracy from that time period. I literally got chills the first time I saw him walk onscreen because I was getting flashbacks from the time I visited England and met my late British grandfather’s brother. He was in WWII and moved and spoke exactly like Benedict does in this movie. My jaw literally dropped. (See this post by drinkingcocoa for more on this.)
And yet to me, Benedict’s acting is not profoundly better in this leading role than he is in anything else he’s been in. In my opinion, reports that he’s “never been better” just haven’t been paying attention. :) The difference is that in this case, the filmmakers have trusted him to carry the movie and have given him the breathing space onscreen to do so. Sherlock filmmakers know this well-just light him in pretty tones, and away he goes. But no matter how big or small the role, he always takes his job seriously. He always puts in the same amount of energy and intensity, he always draws me in, he’s always breathtakingly immersive, and he always seems to raise the game of everyone he works with. He’s very often better than the movie he’s surrounded by.
And sure, some parts of this movie are a little contrived-the sudden “aha!” realization at a pub and a literal mad dash back to headquarters, raising the stakes by having a brother of one of the team members on a ship about to be sunk in a preventable attack, the repeated line of “Sometimes it’s the people no one imagines anything of who do the things no one can imagine.” But nonetheless, the film works and has lots of very important things to say.
I loved the complementary role that love and logic played in this movie, the “man vs. machine” theme. We’re repeatedly told that what won the war was utilitarianism: cold, hard logic and statistics, crossword enthusiasts solving puzzles in a little room in Bletchley Park. And yet what we’re shown is Turing pining over his lost love from school, motivating himself by naming his Enigma machine “Christopher” after him, being tortured by the idea of being alone. We’re shown how important human relationships are: having friendships and romantic love and a diversity of opinions (particularly women’s) lead to better results than a lack of them. (And perhaps there is the tacit acknowledgment of the lack of racial diversity as well; how much faster could the war have been won had everyone been included?)
The Imitation Game isn’t a fancy movie: it doesn’t have the dazzling whizzes and bangs that work so well with Sherlock and completely overwhelmed The Fifth Estate. Director Morten Tyldum allows the movie to do its job efficiently with humor and without excess.
And my God, is it effective. I left the theater not with tears of sadness but with tears of cold rage, of frustration and bitterness that this is how the heroes of World War II were treated by the very institutions they had won the war for: scorn, prosecution, punishment, and abandonment, leading Turing to suicide. What a disgusting, shameful waste of a brilliant human life. I hope that others too are motivated by this movie to respect each others’ differences and work to eradicate the kinds of institutional prejudices that caused-and continue to cause-such tragedies.
My other Benedict Cumberbatch reviews can be found here. :)
After months of agonizing waiting and trying to ignore other people’s reviews, I fiiiiiinally got to see The Imitation Game!!! The theater were in was sold out and had a line out the door (we had to stand in the cold to get tickets!), and even though we arrived very early, we had to sit on the third row because the theater was so full. Whoa, so much interest in this film!
I’m glad about the interest in this film because I’ve met so few people who’ve even heard of Alan Turing. It’s very depressing. I myself had only heard of the Turing test, and that only because of Bladerunner-connecting that idea to the fact that Turing was a real, breathing person who was so dynamic in ending World War II didn’t come until I read that Benedict Cumberbatch was taking this role. Yet again, Benedict is instrumental in my education. :) Hopefully at the very least this movie will raise awareness and appreciation of his history.
Benedict is surrounded by a wonderful cast: Kiera Knightley in particular is fantastic as Joan Clarke, especially in the later scenes. In her last scene where she realizes the extent of what Britain has done to Turing, you can see the dawning panic and horror in her eyes, and it’s so real. I would have loved to learn more about her background, like how she became a mathematician while living under her strict parents. But what we’re given is really compelling, a model of how institutionalized sexism hurts everyone.
Mark Strong, Charles Dance, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Allen Leech are all solid as ever. My second-favorite scene was probably the one in which Mark Strong’s character, Stewart Menzies, and Turing discuss Soviet spies and he pulls the rug out from under Turing with his revelations. (Obviously my favorite scene was the “Heil Hitler!” one.)
Alex Lawther is a revelation as young Alan Turing (and would make a fair teen!Sherlock, as well!). The scene where he is told about Christopher’s death was so haunting.
And then there’s Benedict Cumberbatch, whom I think is the only person on earth able to play this role so convincingly. Seriously, who else could possibly do this? His body language, his speech patterns, everything screams accuracy from that time period. I literally got chills the first time I saw him walk onscreen because I was getting flashbacks from the time I visited England and met my late British grandfather’s brother. He was in WWII and moved and spoke exactly like Benedict does in this movie. My jaw literally dropped. (See this post by drinkingcocoa for more on this.)
And yet to me, Benedict’s acting is not profoundly better in this leading role than he is in anything else he’s been in. In my opinion, reports that he’s “never been better” just haven’t been paying attention. :) The difference is that in this case, the filmmakers have trusted him to carry the movie and have given him the breathing space onscreen to do so. Sherlock filmmakers know this well-just light him in pretty tones, and away he goes. But no matter how big or small the role, he always takes his job seriously. He always puts in the same amount of energy and intensity, he always draws me in, he’s always breathtakingly immersive, and he always seems to raise the game of everyone he works with. He’s very often better than the movie he’s surrounded by.
And sure, some parts of this movie are a little contrived-the sudden “aha!” realization at a pub and a literal mad dash back to headquarters, raising the stakes by having a brother of one of the team members on a ship about to be sunk in a preventable attack, the repeated line of “Sometimes it’s the people no one imagines anything of who do the things no one can imagine.” But nonetheless, the film works and has lots of very important things to say.
I loved the complementary role that love and logic played in this movie, the “man vs. machine” theme. We’re repeatedly told that what won the war was utilitarianism: cold, hard logic and statistics, crossword enthusiasts solving puzzles in a little room in Bletchley Park. And yet what we’re shown is Turing pining over his lost love from school, motivating himself by naming his Enigma machine “Christopher” after him, being tortured by the idea of being alone. We’re shown how important human relationships are: having friendships and romantic love and a diversity of opinions (particularly women’s) lead to better results than a lack of them. (And perhaps there is the tacit acknowledgment of the lack of racial diversity as well; how much faster could the war have been won had everyone been included?)
The Imitation Game isn’t a fancy movie: it doesn’t have the dazzling whizzes and bangs that work so well with Sherlock and completely overwhelmed The Fifth Estate. Director Morten Tyldum allows the movie to do its job efficiently with humor and without excess.
And my God, is it effective. I left the theater not with tears of sadness but with tears of cold rage, of frustration and bitterness that this is how the heroes of World War II were treated by the very institutions they had won the war for: scorn, prosecution, punishment, and abandonment, leading Turing to suicide. What a disgusting, shameful waste of a brilliant human life. I hope that others too are motivated by this movie to respect each others’ differences and work to eradicate the kinds of institutional prejudices that caused-and continue to cause-such tragedies.
My other Benedict Cumberbatch reviews can be found here. :)