Film: The Imitation Game

This film is firstly a tribute to the magnificent work of Alan Turing, who with his team cracked the Enigma machine code during the second world war. It shows the problems of a person with a brilliant mind but social awkwardness trying to work in a team environment. The team could not get recompense or acclaim for its work because of the surrounding secrecy. It also shows the strain of poeple in a dilemma - to save one ship and hundreds of lives and condemn future lives or to sacrifice one ship to save numerous other lives. Furthermore, the film is a commentary on the difficult social and legal situation of a homosexual in the 1940's and 1950's, as well as the view of women in those days - the disbelief that a female could be an applicant for a serious code breaking job and is told to go upstairs for secretarial jobs.

The film begins with Turing's arrest for the latter crime, as it was then, and the story of Turing's work and childhood is interwoven into the narrative. This is done brilliantly. The acting is first rate, particularly by Benedict Cumberbatch,of "Sherlock" fame, who plays Turing. The filming is dark, as befits the mood. It captures the emotion of the situation and humans struggling to work in difficult circumstances. This is a thought-provoking film and makes us glad to be alive now not then.

PD rating: 5 paws out of 5.

Note: The image is taken from the web and is the copyright of the Weintsein Company.

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