finally - the real deal - after seeing the trailer multiple times
one of those films where you kind of know it before you see it
but main man benedict cumberbatch has appeal factor to spare
and of course always good to see a piece of history dramatised
in this case alan turing (cumberbatch) is the man being celebrated
confusing opening scene set in 1951 with turing in police custody
then back to 1939 and he is seen being interviewed for a covert job
this at a radio factory hosting a secret project to crack the enigma code
a team of intellectuals being assembled to decipher nazi war messages
from the outset turing is seen as precise, literal, direct and confident
his achievements at his age (27) compared to other historical geniuses
the interviewer not fussed about turing until he drops the enigma word
an assurance the code can and will be cracked which gets him the gig
then another time shift showing him as a boy and writing coded notes
passed to a boy in his class who he clearly pangs for - the seed is sown
back at the factory turing buddies up with joan clarke (keira knightly)
their relationship (and star-power) set up as central to the film's plot
the team then gets to work and the facts and figures are tossed around
a staggering number of iterations need to be tested on the messages
a machine is designed and built to crunch the data to find the code
turing's personification of it is complete as he names it christopher
the years pass while the war rages and seen in some actual footage
there's some angst with the suggestion of a russian spy in the camp
tension also as the government grows tired of the lack of results
and a surprise proposal from turing to joan to keep her on the case
more so as another flashback shows the reveal of his homosexuality
and the shock of the death from illness of his first real love - christopher
more time then spent in 1951 and clear now that his sexuality is an issue
back in the main story a sudden revelation finally cracks the enigma code
'heil hitler' ending every coded message providing the source of a pattern
the allies then able to translate signals and use (or not) to their advantage
success and some very deliberate playing of the importance of their work
the team is disbanded and instructed to keep the entire project a secret
forward to 1951 and turing the unknown hero charged with indecency
forced onto hormone treatment to 'fix' his sexuality - suicide follows
end of film - and some very revealing statistics roll in the credits
2 million lives saved by the code crack ending the war quickly
over 50,000 british men charged with being homosexual
2013 - the year the queen overturns turing's charges
all good - made me appreciate the film just witnessed
for i did not really as i was watching it - for some reason
not sure what - possibly the very proper englishness of it all
i sat there mostly impressed with the acting effort on display
2 major leads and a bunch of wannabees - it just felt - staged
a sense of the overt celebration of an actor more than the act-ee
this graphically demonstrated in the film poster - bc is the enigma
plenty of 5 star reviews unanimous in the praise of cumberbatch
no doubt - he steals the show entirely - hence my reservations
the celebration of turing's work played like second fiddle
cynically thinking - the spectre of oscar larger than alan?
this an entirely personal and guilt-loaded summation
the film will be very properly recommended...
