The Imitation Game

After missing the release of The Imitation Game at the cinema, I sat down a couple of nights ago and watched it and it did not fail to live up to my expectations; it was fantastic. I was both astounded and saddened to know the final fate of Alan Turing, the inspiration behind the film. The film focuses on the cracking of the Nazi enigma code in the Second World War led by Alan, the breaking of this code effectively won the war for the Allies. Real emphasis is placed on Alan's invention 'Christopher', the enigma code translator, which has now been regarded as the first computer ever built. Despite his efforts, Mr Turing was dismissed as a 'hero' of the war and his achievements were previously overlooked due to the discovery that he was a homosexual, an illegal offence at the time. He underwent horrific chemical treatments to try and 'cure' him of this 'disease'. In recent times, Alan's triumph has been recognised as one of the biggest achievements in British history and he has been pardoned by the Queen, however only recently in December 2014 for his 'scandalous' behaviour. Alan maintained the phrase that 'Sometimes it's the people no one imagined anything of do things which no one ever imagined', which perfectly summaries his achievement. He is now regarded as the pioneer of our modern day computers, which we cannot live without and with his 'Christopher' it is said he shortened the war by over two years. I think this quote by Alan is always something we should remember. If your ever feeling like you can't reach your dreams, are being overlooked, or are having a bad day, don't forget that if you persist hard enough you can accomplish anything you want to.

Additionally, Benedict Cumberbatch (oo I love his name) portrayed Alan's trials and tribulations perfectly, I think this is possibly Cumberbatch's best performance yet. Cumberbatch, who is renowned as Sherlock Holmes on the BBC series Sherlock, Starter for Ten and Atonement, I felt deserved a Bafta for his performance in this film, however his rival Eddie Redmayne playing Professor Stephen Hawking also delivered an excellent performance in The Theory of Everything (also worth a watch). So I recommend an evening in watching The Imitation Game, maybe get some popcorn to add to the cinematic experience, you don't want to miss it.

Alan Turing 1912-1954

Below is the trailer of The Imitation Game- so check it out!