One of the must-see movies

Rating: Null/10 (24 June 2015)

The Imitation Game (2014) is set in England and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, a Cambridge University Mathematics professor and legendary cryptanalyst, and Keira Knightley as Joan Clarke, his good fellow. It is based on a true story of the great genius but persecuted gay man and so contains a variety of genres mixing biopic, drama, thriller and war.
During World War II, Alan joins a team of code-breakers at a top-secret facility under the British government and tries to crack the code of the German enigma machine with the help of Joan and his other teammates. Despite overwhelming obstacles, he and his team successfully develop another machine to decipher the enigma, which historians estimate shortened the war by more than 2 years and saved over 14 million lives.
Far from being a war hero due to the nature of his confidential work, Alan is convicted of his homosexuality and is sentenced to hormonal therapy for 2 years, which makes him dogged by depression. After a year of the hormonal therapy, he commits suicide as a 41-year-old. In 2013, Queen Elizabeth II granted him a posthumous pardon, honoring his unprecedented achievements.
Sensitively directed by Morten Tyldum, the film describes Alan's tremendous accomplishment and his lonely life. The script is alternatively gripping, surprising, and hilarious. As Alan, Benedict's acting is quite awesome.
Overall, I find that Alan's work is really electrifying even at this day and age, and his personal life is deeply poignant. If you have no idea who Alan is, you'd better go see this film! It is not slow-paced, and so you won't get bored, I promise. Based on a real story, it is a bit predictable, though. Anyways, it deserves to be widely praised. I wish you would also have a chance to honor his legacy some time soon!