The Imitation Game (M)
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Charles Dance
A sterling historical biopic, The Imitation Game brings needed attention to a wartime hero with a tragic yet fascinating life story.
The film details the life of British mathematician Alan Turing and follows both his vital work in decoding Nazi transmissions in WWII and the persecution he suffered for his homosexuality.
Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance as Turing is a marvel of subtle intensity.
Disappearing into his role, Cumberbatch flawlessly conveys Turing’s profound social awkwardness and emotional opacity, but ensures that the man’s analytical passion and inner pain shine through at every moment.
The narrative, which fluidly shifts throughout Turing’s life, is expertly paced and phenomenally tense. The urgency of cracking Germany’s fantastically complicated Enigma machine codes is stressed by the implied ticking clock of lives lost, and the difficulty of this operation is compounded by team in-fighting, impatient superiors and other obstacles.
In its look at the Allies’ frantic behind-the-scenes work (and Turing’s appalling treatment by the law for his “acts of indecency”), The Imitation Game is just as enthralling – if not more so – as any war film set in the heat of battle.
An exquisitely-crafted period piece and a dramatic, heart-wrenching character study, this film will surely be well-rewarded at the Oscars in February (and yet never once feels like Oscar bait).
A latecomer to Australian screens, The Imitation Game is one of the best films of last year.
– SETH HYNES
