Endearing, thoughtful, sensitive, amazing

Rating: 9/10 (3 January 2015)

After a whirlwind of feelings of anger, sadness, and reflection, writing a review is what i must do first.
The film was downright amazing, and it's really hard for me to say that for many. The story was intriguing and meaningful. Turing was a mathematician, cryptanalyst and genius. Drawn to solving puzzles, of which the hardest was the Enigma which the Germans used to cipher their messages, he applied to the government department which aimed to crack the impossible Enigma. Being what was viewed as odd and even off- putting, he and his work in building the universal deciphering machine - what we now call the computer- is targeted by everybody.
But what i expected to be tense and suspenseful as the biography of a man who struggled to decipher the Enigma code and win the war against Germany (which it was), also became something deep and personal. The character of Alan Turing was truly the heart of the movie; i began to care for the raw, sensitive character which Benedict Cumberbatch brought to life. Seemingly narcissistic but at the core a complex and lonely man (who also brought little instances of humour), he is truly one to fall for. Some characters were portrayed very shallowly - but that might ironically represent their personalities.
The directing of the film was astounding. The interweaving of time periods in the life of Turing was surprisingly clean and intelligent. I always love woven narratives because i think that you gain a good sense of the character and their story; what has created them and shaped them, and this is a prime example.
Having recently read up on a brief biography of Alan Turing, i am aware that the movie was in many ways factually inaccurate. However, as a great movie alone i still believe it deserves its high rating.
If you are looking for a thought-provoking movie with the ability to resound with you, don't miss this one. Really. I have already decided to see it again in the cinema next week. There are so many things to love, and of course i cannot skip this quote: "Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine."