Cracking the CODE --The smartest film of 2014

Rating: 10/10 (27 March 2015)

IMITATION GAME In 1940 in the dark days following the fall of France and facing the Germans alone Britain was on the verge of collapse. The massive Luftwaffe bombardments from the air and deadly U-boat attacks at sea were coordinated by a secret military code called "Enigma" which was considered to be of undecipherable diabolical complexity. With their fading hopes hanging on the cracking of the code an enigmatic (aloof, arrogant and homosexual) mathematician from Cambridge, Prof. Alan Turing, regarded as a very touchy eccentric genius, was recruited in desperation as a last resort to head a team of experts assembled for the top secret operation but totally stymied until then.
The film deals with Turing's tenterhook relations with the high command and the conflicts with colleagues he regards as simpletons, one of whom is a a pert young women (Keira Knightley, drably dressed in wartime austerity duds, but still looking great) who steadfastly defends him and supplies moral support in moments of doubt. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch (37) is letter perfect as the irascible genius saddled with the extreme responsibility of being his country's only hope, working with people he disdains, but above all because he is basically an egomaniac, seeing the problem as the greatest intellectual challenge of his life. Director Morten Tyldum, born in Oslo, 1967, is a leading director of tight Noreegian dramas (UNO, 2008, but this is his first film in English and by the result you'd never know he isn't even an Englishman.
The wartime decor, costumes, and atmosphere is so spot on it gives you the feeling of being there, not looking back, especially with the subdues low key photography and authentic English accents. Most important, even if we know what the outcome will be in the end, Tyldum skillfully maintains mounting tension every step of the way playing off of the antagonism of the others against Turing and his own frustration at failing to find the answer before it's too late.
In a brilliant flash of insight Turing cracks it -- partly by realizing that the formula "Heil Hitler" will be repeated in all messages in what looks like meaningless strings of jumbled letters. This is the high point of the desperate quest for a solution, but a second high point comes in the final act, when exposed as a homosexual, a crime in England at the time, Turing is disowned by the establishment he has just saved, and rewarded for his efforts by being offered "chemical castration" (a new one on me!) in lieu of being sent to prison. His towering ego can only take so much of that insanity before he commits suicide, which he in fact did, in 1954 at the tragically early age of 42. A series of inscriptions at the end inform us that Turing was later retroactively rehabilitated and honored. Largely as a tribute to his memory and his key contribution to victory over Nazi Germany, thousands of homosexuals who were prosecuted during England's peak homophobic years, living and dead, have now been officially pardoned by Prime Minister Gordon Brown (2009) and Queen Elizabeth, Royal Pardon, in 2011. ( But, please Note: she was the sitting queen when Turing was royally screwed in 1954!) In a sense then, "Imitation Game" is as much a plea against official homophobia as it is a tantalizing gripping World War II back story. Above all, Cumberbatch's performance is low key Awesome!
The title stems from the fact, graphically shown throughout, that Turing had to emulate, or attempt to imitate the code, on a captured Enigma typewriter salvaged from a destroyed German U-boat. Without that simple device the task would have been impossible
Comparison with 'The Theory of Everything' the story of wheelchair bound Physicist Stephen Hawking, another Cambridge genius, is all but inevitable. Both pictures came out in late 2014, both are about English geniuses from Cambridge University, both were directed by relatively unknown directors, both starred hitherto little known actors in the leading roles and had outstanding female roles in support. Both were showered with all kinds of awards in a variety of ceremonies from the British BAFTA awards to the Hollywood Oscars. Finally, both are intelligent off-mainstream productions that performed well at the world box-office anyway because of their inherent quality as entertainment. James Marsh's THEORY is over-the-top Baroque razzle-dazzle and Eddie Redmayne, as fully expected, walked off with an undisputed Oscar. In Sober contrast Tydlum's GAME is more restrained and Classic in style, but even Cumberbatch's fine-tuned Turing could not top Redmayne's gaggling Hawking. Yet I think Tydlum's sober classic is the superior film. Felicity Jones, incidentally, was terrific as Hawking's wife but Keira Knightley was not far behind as Turing's female safety blanket. In every other way Tydlum's film feels less commercial and more authentic. Theory appeals to the emotions and pulls out all the stops ~~ Game, more to the mind, but also the emotions in a more subtle way. Different strokes for different folks. Marsh had one success previously, Man on a Wire, 2008, Oscar for Best documentary feature. Redmayne figured prominently in "My Week with Marilyn" an excellent English Film that that came and went with little notice in 2011.