The Imitation Game (12A)

Directed by Morten Tyldum

4/5

THE FIRST the British public really knew of WWII code breaker Alan Turing’s significance was in 2009, when the then Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologised unequivocally for the appalling way he had been treated for being gay. 

Yet it wasn’t until last year that the man responsible for breaking the German Enigma codes, which shortened the war by two years and saved thousands of lives, was finally granted a posthumous pardon by the Queen.

It addressed his conviction in 1952 of gross indecency with another man for which he opted for chemical castration. Two years later he was found dead from cyanide poisoning. He was 41. 

It is unforgivable and shocking that it took almost 60 years for Turing to be pardoned and recognised for the unsung hero that he was and this film finally does justice to his life and his extraordinary work. 

Norwegian director Morten Tyldum’s (Headhunters) nail-biting thriller begins and ends with Turing’s arrest, conviction and subsequent death while the bulk of the film concentrates on his top secret code-breaking work at Bletchley Park. 

Benedict Cumberbatch delivers another blinding five star performance as Turing, which has already sparked talk of an Oscar nomination and deservedly so. He completely immerses himself in the mathematical genius’s idiosyncrasies, arrogance and single-mindedness to crack the unbreakable Enigma machine.  

He is joined by an impressive British cast which includes Keira Knightley, Charles Dance and Mark Strong.

Based on Andrew Hodges book, Graham Moore’s screenplay is surprisingly full of humour which predominantly emanates from Cumberbatch’s prickly encounters with Dance as Commander Denniston who ran Bletchley Park as well as his code-breaking team. 

It offsets the incredible mounting tension that Tyldum builds up skilfully in the race-against-time element of this amazing story. 

It is a beautiful looking film with a painstaking attention to detail which will hold you riveted from beginning to end. 

It is also a fitting tribute to this brilliant unrecognised war hero and the pioneer and father of the modern day computer.