World War II is one of the most recurring topics portrayed in movies. Every year there’s one film about it. From “The sound of music” to “Inglorious Basterds”, passing through “Schindler’s List”, everybody seems to have something to talk about when the topic is this war, each one bringing a new point of view. This year is no exception.
In “The imitation game” (nominated for 8 Oscars, including best picture), we are introduced to Alan Turing, a mathematician responsible for leading the team recruited by the British intelligence agency MI6 that breaks the “unbreakable” Nazi code “Enigma”. He ends up building the first computer in that process.
Alan Turing is played wonderfully by Benedict Cumberbatch (nominated for best actor), who is having a great moment in his career. He’s been in eight movies in the last 2 years, not to mention the hit TV series “Sherlock”. He gives a great performance and is able to transmit to the audience the pain his character is in. He’s joined by a great cast, including Keira Knightley, nominated for best supporting actress, who plays Joan Clarke – a key person in Turing’s life.
As the movie goes back and forth in time, we learn about his childhood, his first love, Christopher, and the struggle he goes through both during and after the war for being a homosexual (in England it was illegal to be homosexual until 1967). He also faces another dilemma during the war: how could they prevent attacks from happening without letting the Germans know that they had broken the code? But, if they didn’t prevent the attacks, people would die, so how to solve that problem?
Since the entire project was a complete secret, no one knew what he had done during the war. In fact, it only became public in 1974. In 2013, Queen Elizabeth II honored Alan Turing for his achievements during the war and now we can fully appreciate his efforts in this great movie.
So, what is the imitation game, after all? Watch the movie and see it for yourself!
