The Imitation game: Maths of it adds up perfectly

The Imitation game
Staring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Mark Strong
Rated: 8/10
This is a week of legends telling their true stories on cinema. If Stephen Hawking does so on the muscle of five Oscar nominations, The Imitation Game does so with a rare multiplication — that of eight Oscar nominations, with Benedict Cumberbatch leading the race for best actor only a whisker behind Eddie Redmayne.
Whether it will finally be the best picture while in the company of American Sniper, Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Boyhood, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash and Selma is a question worth waiting for, but for now, sitting tall over the edgy shoulders of Cumberbatch, this one from the War days is a treat to watch. It is slow, measured and not in the hurry of a traditional thriller but it still manages to hold you in your seat while you get into the secret operations of the Allied forces on a secret mission to break the great Enigma code and save casualties being inflicted by Hitler’s forces.
But the film is not so much about the military operation as it is about the man who helms it. With Cumberbatch, who plays a highly unlikeable Maths professor, at the helm, it is his eccentric, alternative story that holds ground here. The director has caught the pulse of that age to perfection with his art director but it is the Maths professor’s story that holds you in thrall — makes you feel for him despite him making it utterly impossible for any human to like him. The Imitation Game also talks about 1939-1942 England and its societal taboos, one of which was homosexuality something that the professor internalises, till it all comes out in the open — to disastrous effect. A must see film which is true to form. Source: Sunday Pioneer, 18 January, 2015

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