The Imitation Game: Review

So last night, at about 11:30, I found myself renting The Imitation Game on Amazon Prime to watch. I’ve been wanting to see it for a while after developing a (minor) obsession with Benedict Cumberbatch. (He’s just such a good actor; that’s it, I swear). Plus, the history class I’m currently taking covers WWII briefly and I had hoped to gain some more insight into the role Alan Turing played in helping the Allies win the war. I’d done some background reading on how the film compares to Turing’s actual life and was pleased to see that his family members agreed it did him justice. The film had good reviews as well, so I went into it excited and intrigued.

Let me tell you, I did not expect to find myself with tears running down my face two hours later as the words “Alan Turing committed suicide on June 7th, 1954” slowly came into view. I sat for a moment as the end credits ran, lost in my own thoughts, and I knew that this was an excellent film.

I was shocked and disgusted at hearing how the British government repaid Turing for his hard work, and I couldn’t believe that he wasn’t honored until 2013 by Queen Elizabeth. Better late than never, I guess, but shocking nonetheless. He gave up his time, effort, and life to decode the German’s Enigma, and his contributions are felt today. Every time one of us is turning on a computer, we are using a machine inspired and first developed by Turing. It may be my poor memory, but I don’t ever recollect learning that Turing developed the first machines that companies like Microsoft and Apple now sell today.

I read an article this morning discussing the confusion surrounding Turing’s death. While it is listen on Wikipedia as “suicide”, the actual event is debated, as there was never a real investigation conducted on the circumstances surrounding his death. He died due to cyanide poisoning, which he often did experiments with. People that interacted with him right before his death recall him as “joyful” and “in good humor.” The main reason that peopled assumed his death was suicide was that Turing was undergoing treatment for chemical castration: a punishment for his homosexuality. Rather than be sent to jail, Turing agreed to the treatment so that he could continue working on his machines, despite the horrible side effects the medication has, including muscle waste, anemia, osteoporosis, and depression.

While we may never know whether Turing’s death was a result of hopelessness and depression concerning his life’s situation, or an unfortunate laboratory accident, there is no doubt that Turing’s accomplishments are the reason the Allies won the war. He gave so much to this world, and The Imitation Game is a well-written, beautifully acted tribute to his life.