The Imitation Game

“Are you paying attention? Good. If you're not listening carefully, you will miss things. Important things. I will not pause, I will not repeat myself, and you will not interrupt me.”

With lead actor Benedict Cumberbatch playing code-breaking mastermind Alan Turing, The Imitation Game is a touching tribute to an extraordinary man and his team. This film is, without a doubt, a rich piece that combines the suffering, heartbreak, and victory of war. The film is carefully crafted – as the literary development that takes place within the film is linked with a combination of both dramatic and cinematic elements. Blending these elements together allows the film to speak and break through to the audience on multiple levels.

The moment the film began, I was enraptured by the non-diegetic piano notes that planted a sensation of suspense and curiosity within me – before I even understood what was happening. Benedict Cumberbatch’s gravely deep voice provides us with voice-over narration through a series of cuts that pan over an amalgam of peculiar looking objects. At once, the film uses a combination of auditory elements and visual imagery to draw us into what is happening; I wanted to know what was going to happen next. The director’s choice of lighting and color throughout the introduction of the film is interesting; the shots take place with

low key lighting accompanied by neutral lighting shots sometimes (but even then, they are filtered to appear darker and more ominous). Color is rare, and surrounded by dull shades of blue, brown, grey, and black. This automatically told me that this film was not meant to be a happy victory; rather, that it would involve a complex plotline of mood changes and ethical dilemmas. Most noticeably, the introduction of the film was greatly representative of capturing the mood of the entire film: suspenseful, dramatic, dark, poignant.

There are so many aspects of this film that deserve recognition; it is hard to identify which few are worth mentioning in this review. So let me start with lead character Alan Turing (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) himself. What is it about his character that makes us root for him? How does the film make us empathize for an individual who begins by appearing so fixated on the logical that he forgets what is moral?  The director makes key decisions that are directly related to our relationship with Turing himself – we become a part of his story just as much, if not more, than Joan, Hugh, John, and Peter. This is primarily done through a series of flashbacks that take place throughout the film, instances in which we are able to access the areas of Turing’s mind that the others are unable to see.

Sometimes, these flashbacks are accompanied by Turing’s voice over narration, describing how he saw the world and what he learned from his observations. These flashbacks engage us through the simple use of camera angles, lighting, and sound. The flashbacks often feature a change in lighting and filter, indicating a time in which Turing had something he does not have now (we find that this ‘thing,’ is more a person (Christopher) as the film progresses). When Turing is trapped underneath the floorboards, he struggles for freedom in the dark (although there is some side lighting) and Christopher is able to remove the dark and literally and metaphorically bring light into his life. When young Turing reads Christopher’s letter, we view him from a low angle and full frontal lighting. These function to illustrate Turing’s newfound sense of empowerment and genuine happiness due to Christopher’s presence in his life. Thus, when we return from these flashbacks to his current state of life we cannot help but root for the socially awkward genius.

The film’s historical setting indicates that the Second World War is a huge part of defining the film. This is apparent through the multiple instances of cross-cutting that takes place between Alan’s personal interactions and those going on throughout the duration of the war. This cross-cutting serves to remind the audience that the war is still going, and that bloodshed is still occurring. But more importantly, this film focuses on Alan’s development through his relationships with people. This whole film is, in essence, Alan’s story (both literally and metaphorically). Alan’s most important human relationship is with Joan, played by Keira Knightly.
The bond is essential to the film.

This duo reminds us that love can form in the most unusual ways, even after everything has been taken away with you. Joan is the first character that Alan is enamored by, evident through the extra efforts made to get close-up shots of Alan’s face when he speaks to her. This is done primarily to emphasize how Alan is truly affected by Joan – she opens him up to his team (especially evident in the scene in which he brings them apples and attempts to tell a joke, had me laughing on the floor!). The film develops to show how Alan learns to becomes a family with his team, which was most clear the day that the individuals cracked ENIGMA. This scene focused on Turing amidst the action that was going on around him. The camera zoomed in on Alan’s face to show the vulnerability that was present – the emotional bond that we hadn’t been able to see before. This is underscored through the eye-line matches and reaction shots that take place between Turing and the other characters (specifically Hugh). This scene focalizes the scene into a subjective point of view – underscoring the idea that not only had Alan broken barriers by cracking the code, but he had also broken the barriers he had held up to separate himself from the rest of the world. The film does a great job of using cinematic elements to parallel both the plot’s development and Alan’s development.

Towards the end of the film, Turing undergoes a tragedy in which he is forced to take hormonal therapy in order to “cure” his “condition” (homosexuality). The ending is bittersweet, as Alan turns the light off after staring at ‘Christopher’ (the machine). His decision to turn the light off symbolizes that he no longer needs the machine, a mere tangible representation of Christopher, in his life because he has learned to accept and hold the best parts of Christopher within his heart. The most touching scene in this film is the last interaction between Alan and Joan, in which Joan tells Alan what he had told her when they first met: “Sometimes it’s the very people who no one imagines anything of who do the things no one can imagine.” A series of eye-line matches take place, and the camera focuses on casting light upon the tears that form on Alan’s face. 

This final exchange symbolizes the trickle of hope that remains in Turing’s life even after he feels completely lost. Although I later discovered that Alan Turing truly did end up committing suicide, I could not call it a tragedy.

We can call this film a lot of different things. A touching tale. A dramatic piece. A social commentary. Whatever it may be, I finish the film remembering the one quote that had me in tears by the end of the film:

“Sometimes it’s the very people who no one imagines anything of who do the things no one can imagine.”