The Imitation Game was hot-Oscar buzz when it was released in 2014. The story is about Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), a mathematician assigned the task to break the unbreakable Nazi code called "Enigma". Cumberbatch gives an incredible performance as Turing which earned him an Academy nod. Upon further examination, it seems like an obvious choice to cast the Sherlock actor to play the part. The other stand-out performance I'd like to discuss is Keira Knightley as the spunky, humorous, and compassionate Joan Clarke, who is the lone woman working to break Enigma in secret who is an inspiration of social change.
However inspirational, Turing's story is devastatingly sad. Instead of being praised and honored as a hero, he was arrested for indecency (being gay) and was subjected to chemically-induced castration. He committed suicide the year after. All that hard work, all those hours he spent, all the lives he saved amounted to nothing. He was given a posthumous royal pardon by the Queen in 2013, but that doesn't quite make up for what happened.
I'm going to try and end this review on a high note, all of what he did do did amount to something. I wouldn't be here typing on this computer (also known as a "Turing machine") had it not been for him. And while unknown to many, he and his team took part in saving the war and do deserve to be honored for that. Remember kids, "sometimes it's the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine". I highly recommend this movie to teens, though it is not easy viewing it's a powerful and beautiful story about persistence and the hidden heroes of WWII.
However inspirational, Turing's story is devastatingly sad. Instead of being praised and honored as a hero, he was arrested for indecency (being gay) and was subjected to chemically-induced castration. He committed suicide the year after. All that hard work, all those hours he spent, all the lives he saved amounted to nothing. He was given a posthumous royal pardon by the Queen in 2013, but that doesn't quite make up for what happened.
I'm going to try and end this review on a high note, all of what he did do did amount to something. I wouldn't be here typing on this computer (also known as a "Turing machine") had it not been for him. And while unknown to many, he and his team took part in saving the war and do deserve to be honored for that. Remember kids, "sometimes it's the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine". I highly recommend this movie to teens, though it is not easy viewing it's a powerful and beautiful story about persistence and the hidden heroes of WWII.
