Review of The Imitation Game (2014) by Dierregi — 25 Jan 2015

Cumberbatch pays Alan Turing, the mathematician who managed to crack the Enigma code, WITH a team of other people and then proceed to get infamously arrested for indecent exposure. The core of the movie is the cracking of Enigma with some flash back to Turing youth and flash forward to Turing last year (actually, the movie starts in the 50s and then jumps back to the war years – a completely useless editing idea).

Altogether not a bad story and certainly a great Cumberbatch and Knightley interpretation. The supporting actors are also good and there is some moment of British humor to lighten the atmosphere. The only thing I find objectionable is that the movie gives the idea that Turing was the only one who actually cracked the code. The solitary genius who did it all on his own and even against his own team - with the exception of the Knightley character.

All this to put Turing on an even higher pedestal and to underline that he was such as genius AND gay. Basically gay = genius in this movie. Which seems rather far-fetched, because it surely is a fact that not all gay people are geniuses, just like not all straight people are….. Then again, the “solitary” hero concept is a lot more fascinating than “team work”.