Film Review: The Imitation Game (15) (U.K./U.S.A. 2014) (Director: Morten Tyldum), The Cameo Cinema Screen One, Edinburgh, Friday 14.11.2014 18:30

I had considerable reservations about this film suspecting that it would be 'worthy'. I landed up seeing it as I would do anything to avoid being 'in' on the night of the BBC's Children In Need. 

The film concerns the work of Alan Turing during World War II to break the German's Enigma machine and his subsequent persecution for being a homosexual which was illegal at the time and resulted in his chemical castration, which he chose rather than be sent to jail and be separated from his machine 'Christopher'. 'Christopher' at the time of his persecution was Turing's rebuilding of the machine he built to break the German's code system, and was a precursor to the modern computer. Turing killed himself within years of his castration and it took decades before the contribution he made to curtailing the war became known to the general public as opposed to just those who had worked alongside him.

The film is well made, though slightly t.v. filmish. Benedict Cumberbatch is certainly decent as Turing, considering there was no footage to base his characterisation upon. There has been criticism that there was not much depth to the persecution aspect of the story, though I can imagine that there may not be much detail known about this element of his life. I can also understand a resistance to invent in this regard out of a wish to be sensitive. There may also have been a wish to keep the film as accessible to as wide an audience as possible to have Turing's tale as widely known as possible without putting some off, nothing wrong with that. I can envisage this film appealing to people as something to watch on their snugally sofa of a dreary Sunday afternoon, though it is by no means excellent and some aspects felt perfunctory. 

Rating: 06/10.