The Imitation Game

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Morten Tyldum/Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Mark Strong, Matthew Goode, and Charles Dance

The Enigma Machine has been the subject of various films; either as an object to be stolen or as a peripheral item in World War II dramas. Now, the machine and its creator; Alan Turing, are the focus of an engaging new film by the Norwegian director Morten Tyldum.

Turing is one of the more controversial historical figures of the 20th century. A brilliant mathematician and logician, his fascinating life was cut short by what was reported as a suicide though the circumstances surrounding his death remain inconclusive. In Tyldum's film he emerges as a messy mosaic of genius, psychological quirks and off-putting foibles.

The Imitation Game isn't a hagiographic bio-pic or a garden variety thriller one might find on cable T.V.; it is an exciting dramatization of events leading up to the decryption of German military codes in WWII that were thought to be unbreakable. Secrets are a theme in the film; those unveiled on the personal and governmental levels almost always have a devastating impact.

The story begins years after the war, in early 1950s' England when a burglary at Alan Turing's home led to an investigation which uncovered some damning information that would lead to his arrest. What he was guilty for becomes clearer as the drama unfolds.

The story continues with British intelligence officer Commander Denniston conducting interviews for a team assigned to crack the German code machine Enigma. One candidate, Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), is confident to the point of arrogance but manages to be assigned to the team. Turing defends his suitability for the position by mentioning his passion for puzzles and games involving secret codes. The interview is an entertaining exchange of sparkling wit between Denniston and Turing.

After Turing joins the team, he proves to be a tireless and determined worker; so much so that he demands to be assigned the role of group leader. Of course he is rebuffed by the chief of MI6; Stewart Menzies (Mark Strong), but the officer half-jokingly suggests Turing contact his boss Winston Churchill when the mathematician boldly threatens to go over his head. The team and Menzies himself are shocked when Turing does just that and are miffed when he succeeds in securing the lead.

Turing; awkward, strange and hardly a people person, wastes little time in firing two team members then sets about building an elaborate machine he claims will break Enigma. The rest of the team is naturally resentful, which casts Turing in an adversarial role the project can ill-afford.

To replace the personnel he fired, Turing organizes a test whereby the applicants must complete a crossword of his own devising under 6 minutes. Into the male-dominant test room comes a young woman named Joan Clarke (Keira Knightely), who is regarded mostly as a curiosity by Turing and participants alike. Clarke completes the test in less than 6 minutes, earning her a place on the team; much to the annoyance of her parents, who can't countenance their daughter working and living among men.

As work begins, Menzies is keen to explain the dire need to decipher the Enigma codes by mentioning how many soldiers have died while the group chats. Scenes of British ships burning and half-sunk are intercut with the dialogue, giving the audience a clear and frightening picture of the Enigma machine's devastating impact on the war.

The process of breaking the code is maddening and frustrating. One of Enigma's diabolical features is its ability to be reset everyday, which renders the code-breaking team's work utterly useless if the daily codes remain unbroken. The sound of an alarm signalling the end of the code-breaking day arouses anger and near-violent agitation. The sound also reminds the audience of the plot's ticking clock. As the days wear on, the team endures many failures and setbacks. Meanwhile, Turing's ingenious, anti-Enigma machine, though brilliant, lacks the elusive information that will unlock the German machine's secrets.

In the midst of the team's efforts are the unfolding dramas that transpire outside work. Because Joan's parents refuse to allow their daughter to be part of the team, Turing solves the problem by proposing to her, which she accepts.

The film also frequently breaks from the present to examine Turing's past. We see Turing's school days, where he was often the target of pranks, ridicule and sometimes scorn. In a cafeteria scene, the young Turing obsessively prevents the different foods on his plate from touching one another, which reveals what is now called Asperger's Syndrome. His schoolmates choose to mock his obsessive/compulsive disorder by dumping a huge bowl of vegetables over his head and food.

In the hostile atmosphere of the school, Turing forms a special friendship with a classmate, one that often involves passing notes with encrypted messages only the two boys can decipher. We see Turing's fascination with secret codes was established early on.

How the group eventually breaks the code comes by way of something seemingly mundane a woman mentions casually in a bar. But the triumph of deciphering the code is short lived, for Turing realizes that the information stolen from the Enigma must be used sparingly, lest the Germans discover their transmissions have been compromised, which might prompt them to change the codes. What this amounts to is the tragic understanding that they must decide when and where and for whom the information must be deployed, which means many will die though many will also be saved. It leaves them with a god-like responsibility none in the group relish.

During the code-breaking effort, it comes to MI6's attention that someone on the team is feeding information to the Russians. Turing is suspected at first but later the culprit becomes known to the mathematician. Little can be done, for the culprit threatens to divulge Turing's secret if the person is exposed.

The secret Turing guards is his homosexuality, which blossomed during his school days when he fell in love with the boy who befriended him. Secrets, as mentioned earlier, play a significant role in the film. The exposure of some major secrets lead a nation to victory, while other secrets condemn (in Turing's case) or conceal illicit behavior (the group member passing secrets to the Russians).

But it is Turing who proves to be the most fascinating character. It is astonishing to consider that a brilliant, gay mathematician with Asperger's Syndrome was mostly responsible for securing the allied victory. His efforts have been given short shrift in WWII annals.

I'm beginning to think Benedict Cumberbatch could play an ice cube and give it depth and dimension. His performance alone is worth the price of admission. And though Keira Knightley is an actress who usually annoys me to the quick, she is quite terrific in Tyldum's film, as is the strong supporting cast, led by Mark Strong and Matthew Goode.

What befell Turing later was tragic, as British authorities punished him for his orientation, which was considered a criminal offense in Great Britain at the time. Part of his probation involved receiving hormone treatments to suppress his libido (!) The end titles inform us that Turing received a pardon by the British government and the Crown in 2013.

One of The Imitation Game's great qualities is its refusal to sentimentalize Turing or his life. His story echoes that of T.E. Lawrence; another brilliant hero who happened to be a homosexual and an eccentric. Turing's accomplishments beggar belief yet his own government found it fit to criminalize him. Sometimes the world exacts a heavy price from geniuses for being complicated.

Begin Again

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: John Carney/Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightley, Hailee Steinfeld, Mos Def, Catherine Keener, James Corden and Adam Levine

Director John Carney struck gold with Once some years back, with its charming leads and lovely, heartfelt songs. Begin Again hopes to recapture some of that magic but with a high-profile cast and a setting more American. Everything that made Once a sweet surprise is glaringly absent here as Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley try in vain to make what is essentially a re-worked and warmed-over version of Carney's better film hum. Unfortunately, its musical theme is mostly a thrum.

From Carney's own script is a story of a nearly washed-out, small record company executive named Dan (Ruffalo) who manages to lose his job as a partner at the label he helped found. He drinks excessively, is separated from his wife and infrequently sees his teenage daughter, who is mildly contemptuous of him whenever he arrives to pick her up. He is also broke and even involves his daughter in a drink-and-dash at a bar when he learns neither can foot the bill. Dan's pathetic, selfish and desperate nature comes through loud and clear.

Dan then meets Greta (Knightley), a singer-songwriter from London whose boyfriend Dave (Maroon 5's Adam Levine) has just broken into the music bigtime. Briefly sharing his success, she discovers an affair he's had with a record label staff member when he plays her a song that is all-too-revealing. Greta leaves Dave then seeks temporary shelter with her fellow countryman singer Steve (an amusing James Corden). After she is coaxed onstage by Steve at a local club, Greta's song meets an unreceptive audience and she leaves the stage dejected. Unbeknownst to Greta, her song manages to charm one patron--a liquored but appreciative Dan, who happens to be watching.

We first hear her perform the song, then later we see the performance from Dan's perspective. His fine-tuned musical experience allows him to hear the song with instrumental accompaniment. A piano, guitar, drums, violin and cello all play themselves; bringing a fuller, warmer sound to the composition. This segment was a nice touch; it was very musical and it gave Ruffalo's character some professional credibility.

Impressed with Greta's song, Dan approaches her afterward with an offer to record her music though he is up front about losing his job, being broke and drinking way too much. Greta is skeptical, citing her plans to return to London the next day and a natural aversion to recording her music.

The next day Greta agrees to his offer to record her music which inspires Dan to use various locations around the city rather than a studio to capture her sound. Dan also manages to find musicians hungry and eager enough to work for free. I liked the scenes where the band records in alleys, building-tops, Central Park, Chinatown and the subway. The natural settings allow Carney a natural visual palette from which to utilize the city's inherent charms and personality. The improvised locations are perfectly wed to the rag-tag group's guerilla recording tactics. Carney's directorial inventiveness comes through here and lends some color to the story.

As the recordings progress, Dan must deal with his fractured relationship with his daughter and his wife while Greta hopes to overcome her post-break-up despondence. A natural romantic bond blossoms between Dan and Greta though they resist its allure.

I wish the story had followed a less-predictable course but it seems the God of Neat Endings and Mended Loose Ends must be appeased--a filmmaker's typical pitfall--which cripples a film that occasionally strayed into interesting areas.

Catherine Keener's role as Mark Ruffalo's wife was shamefully underwritten. A fully-realized character in Keener's hands can be something wonderful, but here she behaves according to the script's dictates, which is a pity. Steinfeld can always be counted on for some quirkiness but her only vacation from her rigidly drawn character is a scene where she is invited to play guitar with the band. Ruffalo is always interesting, playing his character with ragged appeal and sprinkles of scoundrel thrown in. I'm afraid to say I found Keira Knightley spectacularly miscast. I couldn't buy her for a second as a singer/songwriter though she does have a pleasing singing voice. Even small details like the way she tentatively held her guitar made her unconvincing. Music doesn't radiate from her the way it does from say, a Joni Mitchell or a Neil Young; songwriters who play their guitars with authority and love. I'm also of the school that finds her mannerisms distracting and annoying, which makes it difficult to forget HER in her performance.

Greta's bland, generic songs also do no favors for the movie. Even with full-band accompaniment, they seem like any-song from anyone, with no real soul or passion. Even some of the CD demos Dan jettisons disgustedly from his car have more aural appeal than Greta's work.

Even though Carney may not have been conciously making Once II, I'm sure he was hoping the same spirits might be summoned for Begin Again. But among the many things that made Once irresistable was a story and characters that were so real because they essentially were. The actors wrote the songs; music so plaintive and beautiful but lived them as well. In a 2011 documentary (The Swell Season), which captured stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova in their post Once relationship, we see people and a romance that wasn't unlike the film. Hansard and Irglova could inhabit their characters and could write lovely, melancholy songs in Once because they were their characters. Music is as necessary and vital to them as their skin and they express this beautifully and tragically in the film.

If only Begin Again had the same poetic urgency it might have been something better than a drama plotted by a clockmaker; with gears and cogs that turn according to design but only yield the modest musical chirps of a cuckoo.