Review #876: 'The Imitation Game' (2014)

Benedict Cumberbatch seems to be making a career out of playing troubled and flawed geniuses, following his huge success as Sherlock Holmes in the TV series Sherlock and the upcoming - and hugely exciting - Dr. Strange in Marvel's upcoming film based on the sorcerer supreme. His finest work so far is in The Imitation Game as code-breaker Alan Turing, the unsung war hero who helped crack the apparently unbreakable Enigma machine used by the Germans during World War II, helping to save millions of lives in the process and shaving years off the war.

Turing was recognised as a prodigy from an extremely young age, and his cerebral superiority isolated him from others. He travels to Beltchley Park, where Commander Denniston (Charles Dance) interviews him as part of a recruitment process to form a cryptology team headed by chess champion Hugh Alexander (Matthew Goode), tasked to break the Enigma code. Turing gets the job through sheer intellectual brilliance, but not through his condescending personality, which instantly puts him at odds with the rigid and impatient Denniston. When he joins the team, which also consists of John Cairncross (Allen Leech) and Peter Hilton (Matthew Beard), he wastes no time in voicing his desire to work alone and dismisses the input of the others as simple time-wasting.

Director Morten Tyldum and writer Graham Moore have not created a work of any great intelligence or subtlety here, and The Imitation Game plays very much by the standard biopic rule book. No great care goes into helping us understand the inner workings of the Enigma itself, or the work done by Turing and his fellow code-breakers, and the film very much relies on great acting and a fast pace. The scenes with Turing, Alexander et al hard at work has them with sleeves rolled-up and chewing pencils whilst staring at boards. We don't quite know what they're doing, but we are certainly urging them to achieve their goal, and, of course, this being a film about Turing, there's only so much of his work that can be squeezed into two hours.

The Imitation Game also helps make the story relevant to the modern day. At the beginning of the film, set after the war, Turing is burgled and his flippant dismissal of the investigating Detective Nock (Rory Kinnear) puts him under suspicion. He is arrested for participating in lurid acts with a man, a crime punishable by up to two years in prison back then. It all ties in nicely with the recent official apology from Gordon Brown, then-prime minister in 2009, and his official pardon by the Queen in 2014. Flashbacks of Turing's early childhood at a boarding school and his relationship with close friend Christopher Morcom (Jack Bannon) are peppered throughout. They help gain an understanding of Turing's love of cryptology and his emerging sexuality, and these scenes are finely played by the young Alex Lawther and do in no way hinder the flow of the film.

But the film's trump card is undoubtedly Cumberbatch. Although his delivery at times can border on stage-y, he has a great weight to his voice. His face exudes such intelligence and charisma that you just want to pick it apart to see what's under there. Keira Knightley too, who I haven't even mentioned yet, is a surprise revelation as Joan Clarke, a fellow prodigy puzzle-solver who, being a woman, had to be hidden away as regulations didn't permit women positions of worthy status. She is fierce and full of life, the polar opposite to the withdrawn and work-focused Turing. Yet the two develop an intriguing and entirely convincing platonic love affair, leading to their short-lived engagement in 1941. It's covered with a thin layer of gloss and a longer running time with more careful story development would have been beneficial, but The Imitation Game is consistently thrilling and engaging, bolstered by a great ensemble.


Directed by: Morten Tyldum
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Allen Leech, Matthew Beard, Charles Dance, Mark Strong
Country: UK/USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #25: 'Never Let Me Go' (2010)

Never Let Me Go is a film, like the novel it's based on, that seemingly mixes genres whilst almost firmly staying within the aesthetic realm of British period drama. You'd be forgiven for thinking that it is in fact just another 'costume' drama with Keira Knightly in it. I use the term costume drama loosely, simply as it is set in a period that is not our own. The film takes place in 1978, 1985 and 1995. Let Me Go portrays a dystopian 'past' which gives off an vague feeling of science fiction whilst firmly staying within the parameters of 'realism'; again a term used very loosely, as it is an alternate reality if you like.

The screenplay was scribed by Alex Garland (previously known for novel/screenplay of The Beach (2000) and screenplay for 28 Days Later (2002), amongst other works), based on the novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro, which was on the Times top 100 novels since 1923. Ishiguro is previously known for the novel Remains of the Day, which was also adapted for the screen. Director Mark Romonek makes his second major feature work after 2002's One Hour Photo, which was an interesting piece of cinema, overshadowed in the media by the odd, but quite brilliant performance by a subdued Robin Williams. Romonek's other work is mainly in the music video world, along with adverts (whore! - I retract that comment if we ever accept adverts on this blog! - well....).

Let Me Go tells the story of three children who are raised in what first appears to be a very English boarding school, called Hailsham. As the story progresses we realise that these children are raised in strict restriction from the real world as they are later to be used for their vital organs for the purpose of medical progression, and to restrict the spreading of serious diseases. It's never elaborated on whether the children are born of cloning or as test-tube babies. because of the setting I assume they would be test-tube. But again, as I have stipulated before, we are in an unsure mix of genre and an ambiguous state of reality.

The film has three stages, first of which is the aforementioned childhood stage. This is where the characters Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield), and Ruth (Keira Knightly), cement their friendship. I'm not going to give too much away about the relationships, as I feel this is where the majority of the emotional and narrative drive comes from. As they grow and are dissipated from their every day, they move towards their twenties, and the last stages of existence; 'completion'. This is the stage in which they begin donating organs. Between these they each explore their sexuality and their place in the world, knowing all too well that they are only on the planet for a short period, not knowing where they came from. They always (particularly the girls), want to know who their 'originals' are. This, in me, triggers that concept that it is in fact a product of cloning. The performances by the three main characters are very noteworthy. They give realistic and emotional gravitas to the events and problems they all endure.

I really don't want to linger at all on details of the narrative, or to dwell on the complexities of the relationships, as I feel this is one of those films everyone should watch. It encompasses the issues of science and duplication of people, as it questions the nature of the human soul. What does make us human? If we are replicated in a science laboratory, does this make us less human genetically/biologically? Whilst this idea is not wholly new in any way, it is a fundamental question when faced with the realities that we live with. After all, cloning is absolutely possible.

The film is beautifully crafted; stunning, yet simple cinematography permeates the film, whilst also portraying the times they are set in perfectly. (We may well be in a different time altogether, but it 'feels' correct). A simple angle of the camera gives the nostalgia of time to the complete mise-en-scene. I rarely leave a film so touched, and so moved by questions of humanity and the importance of life.


Directed by: Mark Romanek
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley, Sally Hawkins, Charlotte Rampling
Country: UK/USA

Rating: *****

Marc Ivamy