The Imitation Game

The Imitation Game is a 2014 historical drama directed by Morten Tyldum, based on the life of Alan Turing. The film was nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Film Editing, which were two aspects of the film that particularly stood out.

In relation to mise-en-scene, the performance of Alan Turing by Benedict Cumberbatch was a particular stand out. Cumberbatch used a method acting technique, and became a stylised character that was realistic and appealed to audience members. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2008). The real quality to Cumberbatch’s performance is that Alan Turing is at first not an endearing character, quite socially awkward and unintentionally rude. However, Cumberbatch creates a complexity to the character, when as when he reaches out to Joan Clarke, a woman and an underdog in a man dominated science programme and confides in her about his hidden homosexuality. Cumberbatch also adapts typage into his performance. He adopts the clearer, posh speaking of the 1940’s English accent and creates awkward movement and speaking patterns associated with Asperger’s Syndrome or a socially awkward person. This is achieved without ever exaggerating too much or being too stereotypical. In doing all this, Cumberbatch creates a fantastic performance in which he respectfully recreates a much respected World War Two cryptographer and makes it unique and powerful.

Another aspect of the film was that of editing. Good editing was crucial in this film, as the film was set at three different times. The first time sequence was when Alan was a young boy in school, the second was breaking the Enigma Nazi code at Bletchley Park, and the third was Alan being brought for questioning about his past and his homosexuality. In order for the time sequences to flow smoothly together, editing had to be used. Editing the different time sequences to run between each other blended all the stories in together. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2008). Alan’s schooling days in which he fell in love with a boy called Christopher, and his arrest after the war were minor story points, but they helped to create Alan Turing as a complex individual, rather than just a scientist. The mixing of different storylines also avoided repetition of scenes, and boredom for the audience. A lot of the film focuses on the building of the Turing machine, which would have become tiresome if other stories had not been factored in. Through this editing, and Cumberbatch’s performance, the audience watches Alan’s growth from adolescence to adulthood, and are able to appreciate the terrible way in which he was treated after the war.

After breaking the code, Turing was arrested for indecent homosexual acts and given the option of prison or hormonal drugs to ‘cure’ him of his indecent ways. Turing eventually committed suicide in June 1954. The triumph and eventual sorrow of Alan Turing’s life is brought to life through many aspects of film, especially performance and editing.