Thoughts: The Imitation Game

I decided to watch The Imitation Game upon the day of it's UK cinema release. I decided to watched the film alone with nothing but sweets for company.  Waiting for films is not something I do often.  I reserve it for the special ones.  I waited for The Lord of the Rings, all three of the trilogy.  I waited for The Imitation Game.  In part, this was because Benedict Cumberbatch starred in it.  In fact this accounted for about 70% of my desire to watch.

Once I was seated in the cinema, pic 'n' mix in hand, fizzy pop close by and largely recovered from the new Sainsburys advert, I discovered that The Imitation Game was a million times more than the majesty that is Benedict Cumberbatch.  Of course, he was profoundly brilliant in role but so was Keira Knightley, Alex Lawther, Allan Leach, Matthew Goode, Matthew Beard, Rory Kinnear, Tom Goodman-Hill, Mark Strong and Charles Dance.

In the past I have avoided films that centre on war because I can't bare the thought of conflict and human loss.  The Imitation Game was, of course, about breaking Enigma so the geek in me felt I had to watch.

Through the film, I thought about my existence, and how, if not for the soldiers, the code-breakers, I might not exist.  I thought about the thousands upon thousands of people that died, on both sides of the conflict.  I thought about the central role that Joan Clarke played in breaking the code, at a time where women were not deemed as much more than home-makers.  I thought about the internal struggle Alan Turing faced everyday as a gay man, in a world where homosexuality was a criminal offence.  Twice I saw Benedict, as Alan, running, seemingly trying to out-run his sexuality.  The struggle was evident upon his face, as was the loss of his first love Christopher.  I thought about the terrible tragedy, that a man so pivotal in bringing the war to a close in favour of the allies, was physically and intellectually marginalised by undertaking treatment to curb his homosexuality.  In other words, he was subjected to chemical castration! And, on a dramatically lighter note, I thought about how terribly cute Matthew Goode is, and yet still nowhere near as devastatingly sexy as Benedict Cumberbatch.

As I walked from the cinema, to recommence my journey upon everyday life, I felt I should sit in the emotions created by watching the film.  It seemed an affront to reconvene my life, just as I had before.  How lucky we are to be here. How fortunate it is that Hitler was beaten.   How terrible that war happened, and continues to happen.  I also thought, how absolutely wonderful that "it is the people no one imagines anything of, who do the things that no one can imagine".

It you haven't watched do, and if you have, watch again.

xx